Talk:canard

Why in French is duck slang for newspaper? Is it just from this one newspaper? RJFJR 17:50, 3 September 2010 (UTC)Reply

The English entry says that the word is from the French, and then tells a story about the origin of the "hoax" meaning in an expression "Vendre des canard à moitié". The French section gives what is presumambly an etymology for the "duck" meaning, then confusingly adds "Specifically, the term Canard refers to a tactic used by a parent duck will use deceptively draw a predator away from its offspring or nest ...". I have no idea what "specifically" signifies here. It seems as if this part is trying to explain the origin of the "hoax" meaning, but the explanation is completely different from the earlier one. Is it really true that the "hoax" meaning came about independently by two different routes? This needs a better explanation.

Just to clarify the French expression: vendre un canard à moitié, "to sell half a duck", referred to someone selling half a live duck to someone. That is, selling the same duck twice, to two different people. It was an expression in the middle ages that meant to tell someone a tall tale, to swindle, and so on. This makes it seem more likely that this was the origin of the term canard in English meaning a false or fabricated story. Actually I think the primary meaning of canard in English is closer to "a myth", rather than a hoax. "Oh that's an old canard, that every doctor is a millionaire" is the most common form it takes, which is much closer to myth than hoax.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canard http://www.thefreedictionary.com/canard Jepry 20:17, 23 February 2012 (UTC)Reply