Steamboat Idiom

Highfalutin,  no apostrophe of course, is clearly the cropped form of highfaluting.  Today it means pompous or pretentious or excessively ornate.  It first appeared in American print in the mid-1800s.  There are several possible origins.  My favorite origin is the steamboat jargon taken from the idea that wealthy people booked passage on the upper decks far away from the animals and cargo in the hold.  The Texas deck was closest to the pineapple topped stacks or flutes as they were sometimes called. 

 

 

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