Today's word of the day: Shamocrat
"One who pretends to be possessed of wealth, influence, rank, or indeed any quality which is only conspicuous by its absence."
-John Farmer's Americanisms Old & New, 1889.
Today is the anniversary of the death of "Emperor" Joshua Norton, a San Franciscan who corresponded with Queen Victoria, appointed himself emperor of California and then the US in 1859, and ordered the dissolution of Congress. Reportedly, Mark Twain modeled the "King" in Huckleberry Finn after Emperor Norton.
And there you go.
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