the.com/travesty
Justice's evil twin, wearing its clothes but walking funny.
means A mockery or distorted imitation of something — especially a grotesquely unfair or absurd outcome where the real thing (like justice) should have been.
from From French 'travesti,' meaning 'dressed in disguise,' itself from Italian 'travestire' — 'tra-' (across, over) plus 'vestire' (to dress, related to 'vestment' and 'vest'). It originally described literary burlesques: serious works deliberately dressed down in ridiculous, clownish clothes for comic effect. Over time 'travesty' shed its theatrical roots and came to mean any grotesque, costume-wearing distortion of the real thing — justice included.
- origin
- from French for dressed absurdly, originally about parody
- old meaning
- once meant a ridiculous imitation, not just injustice
- overused by
- losing sports fans and outraged op-eds alike
- linguistic cousin
- travesty and transvestite share the same costume-change root