hornswoggle

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bbeeton
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hornswoggle

Postby bbeeton » Sat Sep 03, 2022 6:49 pm

Meaning, roughly, to pull the wool over someone's eyes, this word appeared today in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, followed by a comment that it should be used more often.

Hornswoggle has appeared in the Agora in text, but never as a topical word. I think it deserves more attention.

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Re: hornswoggle

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Sep 05, 2022 10:32 pm

A fascinating word whose origin is completely unknown. I really would love to find out where this one came myself, but even the OED, granddaddy of all English dictionaries, has no idea.
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Re: hornswoggle

Postby Audiendus » Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:20 am

Wiktionary says: "Perhaps inspired by lassoed steers trying to escape by moving their head". (woggle = waggle or wobble)

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Re: hornswoggle

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Sep 06, 2022 8:04 pm

Wiktionary didn't give any attestation of this word associated with rodeos. I just found one and it perfectly fits Wiktionary's definition: https://everything2.com/title/Rodeo+Lingo
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Re: hornswoggle

Postby Slava » Tue Sep 06, 2022 8:38 pm

I question this etymology. In the way I understand hornswoggle, it is the person doing the roping in of a sucker that is the one doing the hornswoggling. People being hornswoggled rarely know it until it's too late, and there's nothing that indicates any attempt to avoid the trap in the meaning of hornswoggle.

My spellcheck doesn't like hornswoggle, by the by. It should be 'hornless' according to it. The other forms are different, too. The -ing form is 'mindbogglingly,' and the past tense is 'boondoggled'.

Mindbogglingly is the suggestion, but mindboggling isn't an accepted word. That one needs to be either two words or hyphenated. Go figure.
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