Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Discuss
Email this
Feedback
RSS/XML
Permalink

A.Word.A.Day--false colors

This week's theme: words related to pirates.

false colors (fawls KUL-uhrs) noun

Deceptive actions.

[When ships approached each other at sea, sailors would look to the flag to determine whether the other vessel was from a friendly or enemy nation. They'd often try to confuse the other by flying a false flag until they were close enough to attack.]

-Guest Wordsmith John (Ol' Chumbucket) Baur (chumbucketATtalklikeapirate.com)

"It will be sailing under false colors, says Richard Kogan, an economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Tax cuts discussed by the Bush administration won't give much of a boost to the sluggish economy in 2003, he says." David R. Francis; Assessing the Form, Impact, of Looming Tax Package; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts); Dec 16, 2002.

X-Bonus