scam

See also: skam

English

Etymology

US carnival slang of uncertain origin. Possibly from scamp (“swindler, cheater”) or Irish cam (“crooked”). Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame and sham.

The word "scam" became common use among the US "drug culture" in early 1980 after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.

Pronunciation

• enPR: skăm, IPA^(key): /skæm/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æm

Noun

scam (plural scams)

1. A fraudulent deal.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:deception

   That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.

2. Something that is promoted using scams.

   That new diet burger is a scam.

Coordinate terms

• take for a ride

Derived terms

• 419 scam
• advance fee scam
• exit scam
• love scam
• Macau scam
• Nigerian prince scam
• Nigerian scam
• ponzi scam
• Ponzi scam
• romance scam
• scam artist
• what's the scam

 

Translations

fraudulent deal

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: اِحْتِيَال m (iḥtiyāl)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: ছলনা (bn) (cholna)
• Bulgarian: нечестна сделка f (nečestna sdelka), изма́ма (bg) f (izmáma)
• Catalan: estafa (ca) f, enredada f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 詭計／诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 騙局／骗局 (zh) (piànjú)

• Czech: podvod (cs) m
• Danish: bondefanger
• Dutch: oplichting (nl) f, deceptie (nl), bedrog (nl), misleiding (nl)
• Esperanto: trompo, friponaĵo
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: huijaus (fi), vedätys (fi), vilunki (fi) (informal)
• French: entourloupe (fr) f, arnaque (fr) f, escroquerie (fr) f, trucage (fr) m, manipulation (fr) f à caractère frauduleux, tour de passe-passe (fr) m, tripotage (fr) m
• Galician: calote m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Betrug (de) m, Beschiss (de) m, Gaunerei (de) f, Schwindel (de) m, Trickdiebstahl (de) m, Trickbetrug m
• Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti), κομπίνα (el) f (kompína)
• Hebrew: תרגיל עוקץ, הונאה (he) f (honaá), תרמית f (tarmít)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Ido: eskroko (io)
• Indonesian: scam
• Italian: scam (it) m, fregatura (it) f, truffa (it) f, imbroglio (it) m, raggiro (it) m, inciucio (it) m, tresca (it) f, intrallazzo (it) m, macchinazione (it) f, pastetta f, bidone (it) m, bidonata (it) f, trucco (it) m, frode (it) f
• Japanese: 詐欺 (ja) (さぎ, sagi)
• Kabuverdianu: kanbalaxu
• Khmer: ការបោកប្រាស់ (kaa baok prah), គ្រោងការក្បត់ (krooŋ kaa kbɑt)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: и́змама f (ízmama), дала́вера f (dalávera), ду́бара f (dúbara)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: bondefangeri
• Plautdietsch: Schwindel m
• Polish: oszustwo (pl) n, przekręt (pl) m, szwindel (pl) m
• Portuguese: golpe (pt) m, calote (pt) m, embrulhada f, fraude (pt) f, falcatrua (pt) f, logro (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਸਕੈਮ m (sakaim)
• Russian: афе́ра (ru) f (aféra), жу́льничество (ru) n (žúlʹničestvo), моше́нничество (ru) n (mošénničestvo); partly: обма́н (ru) m (obmán), надува́тельство (ru) n (naduvátelʹstvo)
• Spanish: estafa (es) f, timo (es) m (colloquial), engaño (es) m, engañifa f, chanchullo (es) m, tejemaneje m, petardo (es) m
• Swedish: lurendrejeri (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: dolandırma
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Verb

scam (third-person singular simple present scams, present participle scamming, simple past and past participle scammed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To defraud or embezzle.

   Synonym: con

   They tried to scam her out of her savings.

2. (slang) To seek out a partner for casual sex; to hit on.
   • 2005, Robert Antoni, Carnival, New York, N.Y.: Black Cat, →ISBN, page 54:

     His friend nudged me. "It's true. JJ only scams black ladies." / "You don't say?" / "J-boy scammed a real live Miss Black Universe once. Met her in a disco down in Honduras. Wearing her title. Since then he's been obsessed."

Translations

to defraud or embezzle

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: اِحْتَالَ (iḥtāla)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: atmaq (az)
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: мамя (bg) (mamja)
• Catalan: estafar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 欺詐／欺诈 (zh) (qīzhà), 騙局／骗局 (zh) (piànjú), 詐騙／诈骗 (zh) (zhàpiàn)

• Dutch: oplichten (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: vedättää (fi), huijata (fi)
• French: entourlouper (fr), arnaquer (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: betrügen (de)
• Hebrew: הונה (he) (honá), רימה (he) (rimá)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: truffare (it), imbrogliare (it), raggirare (it), fregare (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ស៊ីឆ (sii cʰɑɑ), ឆីឆ (cʰəy-cʰɑɑ), បោកប្រាស់ (baok prah)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: и́змами pf (ízmami), ма́ми impf (mámi)
• Portuguese: aplicar um golpe, lograr (pt)
• Russian: обма́нывать (ru) (obmányvatʹ), кида́ть (ru) (kidátʹ)
• Spanish: estafar (es), timar (es)
• Swedish: lura (sv), scama (colloquial)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: dolandırmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

References

• Jonathon Green (2024) “scam v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Anagrams

• ACMs, ACSM, CAMs, CASM, CSMA, M. A. Sc., M.A.Sc., MACs, MASc, MCAs, Macs, SMAC, cams, macs, masc, masc.

Middle Irish

Etymology

Attested only in the plural form scaim. From Proto-Celtic *skamos. Cognate with Welsh ysgafn ("light") and Welsh ysgyfaint ("(pair of) lungs"), Breton skañv, Cornish skav.

Noun

scam

1. lung

References

• Matasović, R. (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, p.339. Brill: Boston.