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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
Sigrid Nunez, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2024
Best, a University of Delaware professor — known for debunking the razor-blades-in-the-apples canard every Halloween since 1985 — spotted the telltale urban myth giveaways immediately.
—Benjamin Svetkey, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2024
After the Russian empire claimed Ukrainian territory from a partitioned Poland, its scholars invented a convenient story of how the two lands were one, a canard that Putin recycled in his essay last year.
—Timothy Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022
Myths and canards about Social Security and its supposed fiscal troubles have steadily proliferated over the years.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Canard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canard. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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