Chi chi seems to have a similar meaning.
I was on a beach in Florida with my dad (who is as Un-Frou as you can get, used to drink Blatz beer out of the can). But as he settled into his folding chaise he said “What do you think those drinks are, the ones with umbrellas in them?”
As I trudged up the beach to the little cabana, I was singing
Boat drinks
Waitress I need two more boat drinks
Then I’m headin’ south 'fore my dream shrinks
I gotta go where it’s warm
IIRC, “Bougie” is the French word for “spark plugs”.
Seen it in writing a few times, never used it. Lived in Northeast and Midwest.
I must have mis-heard it way back when, because I would say foo-foo instead. Not that it was a huge or necessary bit of vocabulary for me…
Perhaps conflated with this
I think I would use it more in French than English, where I’d be more likely to use ‘chi-chi’ or “flim-flam”, to mean unnecessary frills or fuss. Mostly in a travel/entertainment context.
I’ve heard chi-chi rarely. And flim-flam is not a synonym at all. Flim flam is a con.
FWIW the French Academy dictionary lists no meaning beyond the noise made by silk fabrics, and neither does the Oxford English Dictionary.
I’ve used it occasionally, but it feels somewhat old fashioned to me, like a word that would be used more in other generations.
Part of that might be because of the frou-frou drink, which I associate with being an insult to men who drink “girly” drinks, a sentiment that seems to be receding. Why should making a drink taste less like alcohol be this horrible thing?
Ooh, there’s an interesting regional variation: AFAIK in US English, “flim-flam” implies not “chi-chi” but rather “chi-canery”. The connotational realm of, not flouncy fluffy fuss and frills, but sneaky shady slimy shills.
I, a native northeastern US resident, do occasionally use the term “frou-frou” to convey “fussily overdecorated, exaggeratedly ‘girly’, very self-consciously fancy”. Honestly though, I can’t remember the last time I’ve even seen anything I’d call “frou-frou”.
I confess that on occasion I have and do use the term "frou-frou, but then, I am an old guy.
I listen to the “-Ologies” podcast with Alie Ward (highly recommended, by the way) and she uses the term “flim-flam” with a different meaning - something like widely-believed but untrue “facts”, misinformation, not necessarily malicious but possibly edging into woo territory.
Coming back to the OP, I have never used or heard the word frou-frou at all. It is not part of my vocabulary though I would guess the meaning from context.
It’s the name of Imogen Heap’s old band, so yes.
One time in my life so far. When I saw a picture of Marchesa Luisa Casati in an over-the-top elaborate gown (intentionally designed to be de trop), all I could say was: “Frou-frou the wah-zou.”
