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In 16th-century France, vendre des canards à moitié was a colorful way of saying "to fool" or "to cheat." The French phrase means, literally, "to half-sell ducks." No one now knows just what was meant by "to half-sell"; the proverb was probably based on some story widely known at the time, but the details have not survived. At any rate, the expression led to the use of canard, the French word for "duck," with the meaning of "a hoax" or "a fabrication." English speakers adopted this canard in the mid-1800s. The aeronautical sense of canard, used from the early days of flying, comes from the stubby duck-like appearance of the aircraft.
Examples of canard in a Sentence
Peter Lyon, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024
The canard that the Jan. 6 riot was actually an FBI setup and was driven on by undercover agents has been circulating since the days after the attack.
—Will Carless, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024
For starters, we should be disabused of the canard that an incumbent president would be handcuffed in discharging constitutional duties if subject to prosecution.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 4 Dec. 2024
And so much for the old canard about how children of shrinks grow up to be emotional wrecks.
—Sigrid Nunez, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Canard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canard. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.
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