bondfångare

Swedish

Man inviting people to play an illegal shell game.

Etymology

Calque of German Bauernfänger. By surface analysis, bonde (“peasant”) +‎ fångare (“catcher”).

Noun

bondfångare n

1. confidence trickster, someone who exploits someone’s fatuity or credulity
2. a type of Chinese finger trap made of woven birchbark

   Synonym: fingerfälla (“finger trap”)

Usage notes

• This term is generally gender-neutral but can also specifically refer to a male practitioner. It can be used to describe both male and female individuals. The related term bondfångerska is a strictly female equivalent.

Declension

Declension of bondfångare

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	bondfångare	bondfångares
	definite	bondfångaren	bondfångarens
plural	indefinite	bondfångare	bondfångares
	definite	bondfångarna	bondfångarnas

Related terms

• bondfångerska (“female equivalent”)

See also

• bedragare (“fraudster”)
• lurendrejare (“trickster, lesser fraudster”)
• svindlare (“swindler”)

Further reading

• bondfångare in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker