hornswoggle

English

WOTD – 28 April 2009

Etymology

Unknown, 1829 US,^[1] jocular coinage like contemporary absquatulate.^[2] Presumably horns + waggle with humorous faux ablaut or combination with wobble (compare later woggle, 1923), perhaps inspired by lassoed steers trying to escape by moving their head.^[3]^[2]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːn.swɒɡ.əl/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔɹn.swɑ.ɡəl/
Audio (General American): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Hyphenation: horn‧swog‧gle

Verb

hornswoggle (third-person singular simple present hornswoggles, present participle hornswoggling, simple past and past participle hornswoggled)

(transitive, slang) To deceive or trick.
Don't let them hornswoggle you into buying anything you don't need.

Synonyms

(deceive or trick): deceive, dupe, trick

Translations

to deceive or trick

Armenian: ֆռցնել (fṙcʻnel)
Czech: napálit (cs)
Finnish: puijata (fi)
Italian: buggerare (it)
Russian: одура́чить (ru) (oduráčitʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: meall

Noun

hornswoggle

(slang) nonsense; humbug

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “hornswoggle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Michael Quinion (October 30, 2004) “Hornswoggle”, in World Wide Words.
^ A Dictionary of the Old West, Peter Watts

John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary

[oetlyd-1] Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “hornswoggle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

[quinion-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Michael Quinion (October 30, 2004) “Hornswoggle”, in World Wide Words.

[3] A Dictionary of the Old West, Peter Watts

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