Thursday, April 24, 2008

365 New Words a Year [Merriam Webster] (Workman Publishing 8/27/7: canard

canard n 1: a false or unfounded report, story or belief 2: an airplane with horizontal stabilizing and control surfaces in front of supporting surfaces.
From DYK: "The French had an old saying, vendre es canards à moitié, literally 'to half-sell ducks' bu used to mean 'fool' or 'cheat.' That expression led to the use of canard, the French word for 'duck', to mean 'hoax' or 'fabrication.' English-speakers adopted this 'canard' in the mid-1800s. The aeronautical sense of 'canard,' usually from the early days of flying, comes from the stubby ducklike appearance of the aircraft. 'Canard' can even mean simply 'duck' in English as well, but this use is limited to the specialized realm of cooking. The French word itself is ultimately derived from caner, Old French for 'cackle.'" Maybe a guy who gets caught up in a web of lies is hoisted by his own canards? Rating 9/10 capons.
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Blogger or Google. They don't often represent views held by friends and family of the author, his church or workplace, his wife or even himself.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"