phoney的词源

英文词源

phoney: "Not genuine; fraudulent", Late 19th century: of unknown origin. More The fraudulent practice of the fawney-rig is probably the source of phoney ‘not genuine, fraudulent’, which was first recorded in the USA at the end of the 19th century. In 1823 Pierce Egan, a chronicler of popular pursuits and low life in England, described how the fawney-rig worked. ‘A fellow drops a brass ring, double gilt, which he picks up before the party meant to be cheated, and to whom he disposes of it for less than its supposed, and ten times more than its real, value.’ The word fawney came from Irish fáinne ‘a ring’. The phoney war was the period of comparative inaction at the beginning of the Second World War, between the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and that of Norway in April 1940. The expression is now used of any coming confrontation, as in ‘the debates on tax in the pre-election phoney war’ (Earth Matters, 1997).

可以改写自俚语词fawney,假金戒指，骗子使用的镀金戒指，来自爱尔兰语fainne,戒指。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：phoney 词源，phoney 含义。