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Potemkin village

noun

Etymology

Calque of Russian потёмкинская деревня (potjómkinskaja derévnja), named for purported fake settlements erected at the direction of Russian minister Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787.

  1. calqued from потёмкинская деревня

Definitions

  1. Any false construct devised to disguise a shortcoming or improve appearances.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA