laïus

Etymology
From ; part of the entrance examination to the École Polytechnique in the early 19th century involved writing Laius's speech to Oedipus, a subject many students found uninspiring. The term entered Polytechnique student slang before spreading to the general language.

Noun

 * 1)  a speech or address, especially one that is meaningless, trite, verbose, pat, and/or insincere.