act of show

[Arnold Zwicky]

from the Palo Alto Daily News of 21 March 2009, "Palo Alto shooting
suspect still at large", by Diana Samuels, p. 3:

Police said Gil-Fernandez claimed affiliation with the Norteno street
gang, though that claim may have been mostly an act of show in Palo
Alto, where the Norteno gang doesn't have much of a presence.
.....

that's "an act of show" 'a show, display, pretense'.  a few more cites:

   I remembered my fiancé’s first time to pay me a visit at home. I
was listening to Metallica. At that time, he thought I was just
playing it to impress him. Later as we knew each other better, he
realized that it was not an act of show but simply my choice of music.
http://www.anintimateconversation.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

   Gabby,Lynette,Bree,Susan and Eddie are all part of a clan that has
secrets lies and webs of drama they all live in such a perfect area
yet knowing all the perfection is just an act of show!!!
http://www.tv.com/desperate-housewives/show/24641/reviews.html&flag=1&pg_rev=4

   Col. Gianfranco Cavallo of the Carabinieri paramilitary police said
the bomb appeared to be an "act of show" rather than an attack planned
to make victims.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bomb-damages-cars-in-downtown-rome-672350.html

   Actually it was our state governor, a female democrat (Ks) that
ordered them sent! I am sure that it was more of an act of show than
anything else.
http://world-news.newsvine.com/_news/2009/03/12/2537681-us-plans-for-mexico-border-violence

there are also hits for "act of show-off"

   do you think if I show up with my guitar it won't be weired? won't
people think of it as an act of show off?
http://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080421191749AAV8jNh
[Yahoo! Indonesia]

   Again, McLeod depicts Ganda Singh as a shallow person of
pretentious nature whose ego was inflated by the mere receipt of a
book from McLeod and as an act of show-off, he carried it round under
his arm, with the title prominently displayed for all to see.
http://sikhspectrum.com/052007/mcleod/ch5.htm

   They dabble in esoteric themes like mysticism, sexual freedom,
death, the after-life and such things, as an act of show off.
http://ia.rediff.com/movies/2008/dec/01review-pakal-nakshatrangal.htm

unlike the "act of show" examples, these seem to be from various asian
varieties of english.

arnold

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