Etymology
13 entries found.

hoax 

1796 (v.) "ridicule; deceive with a fabrication," 1808 (n.), probably an alteration of hocus "conjurer, juggler" (1630s), also "a cheat, impostor" (1680s); or else directly from hocus-pocus. Related: Hoaxed; hoaxing.

spoof (v.)

1889, "to hoax, deceive, trick;" from 1914 as "to parody or satirize;" see spoof (n.). Related: Spoofed; spoofing.

spoof (n.)

"hoax, deception," 1889, from spouf (1884), name of a game invented by British comedian Arthur Roberts (1852-1933). Sense of "a parody, satirical skit or play" is first recorded 1958, from verb in this sense (1914).

sell (n.)

1838, "a hoax or planned deception by which a victim is 'taken in,' " from sell (v.). The sense of "advertising technique" is attested by 1952 in the phrase hard sell.

kid (v.)

"tease playfully," 1839, earlier, in thieves' cant, "to coax, wheedle, hoax" (1811), probably from kid (n.), via notion of "treat as a child, make a kid of." Related: Kidded; kidding. Colloquial interjection no kidding! "that's the truth" is from 1914.

canard (n.)

"absurd or fabricated story intended as an imposition," 1851, perhaps 1843, from French canard "a hoax," literally "a duck" (from Old French quanart, probably echoic of a duck's quack); said by Littré to be from the phrase vendre un canard à moitié "to half-sell a duck," thus, perhaps from some long-forgotten joke, "to cheat." But also compare quack (n.1).

fun (n.)

"diversion, amusement, mirthful sport," 1727, earlier "a cheat, trick" (c. 1700), from verb fun (1680s) "to cheat, hoax," which is of uncertain origin, probably a variant of Middle English fonnen "befool" (c. 1400; see fond). Scantly recorded in 18c. and stigmatized by Johnson as "a low cant word." Older senses are preserved in phrase to make fun of (1737) and funny money "counterfeit bills" (1938, though this use of the word may be more for the sake of the rhyme). See also funny. Fun and games "mirthful carryings-on" is from 1906.

amuse (v.)

late 15c., "to divert the attention, beguile, delude," from Old French amuser "fool, tease, hoax, entrap; make fun of," literally "cause to muse" (as a distraction), from a "at, to" (from Latin ad, but here probably a causal prefix) + muser "ponder, stare fixedly" (see muse (v.)). The original English senses are obsolete; the meaning "divert from serious business, tickle the fancy of" is recorded from 1630s, but through 18c. the primary meaning was "deceive, cheat" by first occupying the attention. "The word was not in reg. use bef. 1600, and was not used by Shakespere" [OED]. Bemuse retains more of the original meaning. Greek amousos meant "without Muses," hence "uneducated."

sham (n.)

1670s, "a trick put upon one, a hoax, a fraud, something that deludes or disappoints expectation," a word of uncertain origin. Along with the verb ("to cheat, trick") and the adjective ("false, pretended"), the word burst into use about 1677 according to OED. Perhaps they are from sham, a northern dialectal variant of shame (n.); a derivation suggested by 1734 and which OED finds "not impossible." The main modern sense of "something meant to be mistaken for something else, something meant to give a false outward appearance" is from 1728 (the verb in the related sense is from 1690s); applied to persons by 1850. The meaning "false front" in pillow-sham (1721) is from the notion of "counterfeit." Related: Shammed; shamming; shammer. Shamateur "amateur sportsman who acts like a professional" is from 1896. A song from 1716 calls the Pretender the Shamster.

mare (n.1)

"female of the horse or any other equine animal," Old English meare, also mere (Mercian), myre (West Saxon), fem. of mearh "horse," from Proto-Germanic *marhijo- "female horse" (source also of Old Saxon meriha, Old Norse merr, Old Frisian merrie, Dutch merrie, Old High German meriha, German Mähre "mare"), said to be of Gaulish origin (compare Irish and Gaelic marc, Welsh march, Breton marh "horse"). The fem. form is not recorded in Gothic, and there are no known cognates beyond Germanic and Celtic, so perhaps it is a word from a substrate language. The masc. forms have disappeared in English and German except as disguised in marshal (n.). In 14c. also "a bad woman, a slut," and, apparently, also "a rabbit." As the name of a throw in wrestling, it is attested from c. 1600. Mare's nest "illusory discovery, something of apparent importance causing excitement but which turns out to be a delusion or a hoax" is from 1610s.
Next
Advertisement

Trending words

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper