flimflam

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The Word of the Day for May 27 is:

flimflam   \FLIM-flam\   verb 
     : to subject to a deception or fraud 

Example sentence: 
     Mrs. Grayson was one of several people in the neighborhood who were 
flimflammed into donating money to the phony charity.

Did you know? 
     English is full of words concerned with trickery and deception, ranging 
from the colorful "flimflam," "bamboozle," and "hornswoggle" to the more 
mundane "deceive," "mislead," and "delude." "Flimflam" first entered English as 
a noun meaning "deceptive nonsense" in the second half of the 16th century. A 
sense meaning "deception" or "fraud" developed. The verb use didn't show up 
until well into the next century. In addition to general deceiving or tricking, 
the verb "flimflam" is often used specifically to refer to swindling someone 
out of money. The ultimate origin of "flimflam" is uncertain, but the word is 
probably of Scandinavian origin and may be related to the Old Norse "flim," 
meaning "mockery."





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