canard
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From French canard (“duck”).
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The term "canard" comes from the Medieval French expression “Vendre des canard à moitié.” The meaning literally is “to sell the ducks by half.” It is actually the punch line to a joke. Eventually the punch line came to stand for the joke and then finally the word alone stood for the whole concept. The story is that a duck seller is successful and contented being the only duck seller on the street and he sells his ducks for eight francs each. A new duck seller moves in across the street who steals all the business by offering his ducks for seven francs each. Then a price war ensues, back and forth, until the new duck seller is down to three francs for a duck. The original duck seller is beside himself with worry and frustration, but finally he puts up a big sign that says, “Two francs” and then in small print at the bottom “for half a duck.” Thus, to sell the ducks by half meant to trick people with something that was literally true, but misleading. It has this same metaphorical meaning in French. Now in English, it simply means anything that is deliberately misleading, a fraud. |
Pronunciation [edit]
- Rhymes: -ɑː(r)d
Noun [edit]
canard (plural canards)
- A false or misleading report or story, especially if deliberately so.
- 2005, The New Yorker, 29 August, page 78.
- It’s a cinch, now that Spurling has cleared away a century’s worth of misapprehensions and canards.
- 2005, The New Yorker, 29 August, page 78.
- (aeronautics) A type of aircraft in which the primary horizontal control and stabilization surfaces are in front of the main wing.
- (transport, engineering) Any small winglike structure on a vehicle, usually used for stabilization.
Synonyms [edit]
- (false or misleading report or story): hoax
Translations [edit]
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French [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle French canard (“duck, male duck”), from cane (“duck, female duck”, literally “floater, little boat”), from Old French cane (“boat, ship", also "waterbird”), from Middle Low German kane (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *kanô (“boat, vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *gan-, *gandh- (“vessel, tub”). Cognate with Norwegian kane (“swan-shaped vessel”), Dutch kaan (“boat”), German Kahn (“boat”), Old Norse kæna (“little boat”), and possibly Old Norse knǫrr (“ship”) (whence also Late Latin canardus (“ship”), from Germanic; and Old English cnearr (“merchant ship”)). Related to French canot (“little boat”). Specifically, the term Canard refers to a tactic used by a parent duck to deceptively draw a predator away from its offspring or nest by quacking and feigning a broken wing. In other words the "Canard" or "Duck" is lying.
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /ka.naʁ/ X-SAMPA: /ka.naR/
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Audio (France, Paris) (file) -
Audio (Paris) (file) - Rhymes: -aʁ
- Homophone: canards
Noun [edit]
canard m (plural canards; feminine cane, plural canes)
Derived terms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Anagrams [edit]
Italian [edit]
Noun [edit]
canard m (invariable)
- English terms derived from French
- English nouns
- en:Aeronautics
- en:Transport
- en:Engineering
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms derived from Middle Low German
- French terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French countable nouns
- French slang
- French familiar terms
- Italian nouns
