from www.wordsmith.org
canard
PRONUNCIATION:(kuh-NAHRD)
MEANING: noun:1. A deliberately misleading story; hoax.2. An airplane with small forward wings mounted in front of the main wings; also such a wing.
ETYMOLOGY: From French, literally a duck. The term is said to have come from the French expression vendre un canard à moitié (to half-sell a duck, or to take in or swindle).
USAGE: "Lyndon Johnson's half-truths about the Gulf of Tonkin, supported by subservient media, embroiled the United States in a nasty war that took the lives of millions of souls. Ultimately, the Vietnam War's distortions and canards prevented him from running for a second term."Mansour El-Kikhia; Realists Conquer Politics With Lies; San Antonio Express-News; Nov 28, 2003.
"Like that old canard that George Harrison's songwriting didn't take off until Something." --Stephen Gibson 2/27/09
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