Freedonia

English

President Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) surrounded by the trappings of Freedonian office in a promotional still for Duck Soup

Alternative forms

• Fredonia

Etymology

Popularized by the 1933 Marx Brothers film Duck Soup.

Proper noun

Freedonia

1. Used as a placeholder country name in textbook problems, classroom examples, etc.

   Coordinate terms: Slobbovia, Sylvania

   • 1933, Bert Kalmar et al., Duck Soup‎^[1]:

     Hail, hail Freedonia, mightiest of mighty nations! Hail, hail Freedonia, land of the brave and free!

   • 1949 February, Jack Williamson, “Seetee Shock”, in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, page 37:

     That little terraformed planetoid, outside the mines and the drift, had been the base of supplies for Freedonia.

   • 2004, Steven M. Cahn, A New Introduction to Philosophy, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 96:

     Suppose Thorndike and Williams, citizens of the country of Freedonia, become embroiled in a dispute as to whether Freedonia ought to attack the country of Sylvania.

   • 2022 [2011], Chris Roberts, Jay Black, Doing Ethics in Media: Theories and Practical Applications‎^[2], Routledge, →ISBN:

     You are an advertising executive in Freedonia. Since before you were born, it has been illegal to advertise cigarettes on Freedonia television, one of the many limits on cigarette ads.

Derived terms

• Freedonian