scam

See also: skam

English edit

Etymology edit

US carnival slang of uncertain origin. Possibly from scamp (“swindler, cheater”) or Irish cam (“crooked”). Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame and sham.

The word "scam" became common use among the US "drug culture" in early 1980 after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.

Pronunciation edit

enPR: skăm, IPA^(key): /skæm/
- Audio (Southern England) (file)
Rhymes: -æm

Noun edit

scam (plural scams)

A fraudulent deal.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:deception

That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.
Something that is promoted using scams.
That new diet burger is a scam.

Coordinate terms edit

take for a ride

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

fraudulent deal

Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: اِحْتِيَال m (iḥtiyāl)
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Bengali: ছলনা (bn) (cholna)
Bulgarian: нечестна сделка f (nečestna sdelka), изма́ма (bg) f (izmáma)
Catalan: estafa (ca) f, enredada f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 詭計／诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 騙局／骗局 (zh) (piànjú)
Czech: podvod (cs) m
Danish: bondefanger
Dutch: oplichting (nl) f, deceptie (nl), bedrog (nl), misleiding (nl)
Esperanto: trompo, friponaĵo
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: huijaus (fi), vedätys (fi), vilunki (fi) (informal)
French: entourloupe (fr) f, arnaque (fr) f, escroquerie (fr) f, trucage (fr) m, manipulation (fr) f à caractère frauduleux, tour de passe-passe (fr) m, tripotage (fr) m
Galician: calote m
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Betrug (de) m, Beschiss (de) m, Gaunerei (de) f, Schwindel (de) m, Trickdiebstahl (de) m, Trickbetrug m
Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti), κομπίνα (el) f (kompína)
Hebrew: תרגיל עוקץ, הונאה (he) f (honaá), תרמית f (tarmít)
Hindi: please add this translation if you can
Ido: eskroko (io)
Indonesian: scam
Italian: scam (it) m, fregatura (it) f, truffa (it) f, imbroglio (it) m, raggiro (it) m, inciucio (it) m, tresca (it) f, intrallazzo (it) m, macchinazione (it) f, pastetta f, bidone (it) m, bidonata (it) f, trucco (it) m, frode (it) f
Japanese: 詐欺 (ja) (さぎ, sagi)
Kabuverdianu: kanbalaxu
Khmer: ការបោកប្រាស់ (kaa baok prah), គ្រោងការក្បត់ (krooŋ kaa kbɑt)
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: и́змама f (ízmama), дала́вера f (dalávera), ду́бара f (dúbara)
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian: bondefangeri
Plautdietsch: Schwindel m
Polish: oszustwo (pl) n, przekręt (pl) m, szwindel (pl) m
Portuguese: golpe (pt) m, calote (pt) m, embrulhada f, fraude (pt) f, falcatrua (pt) f, logro (pt) m
Punjabi: ਸਕੈਮ m (sakaim)
Russian: афе́ра (ru) f (aféra), жу́льничество (ru) n (žúlʹničestvo), моше́нничество (ru) n (mošénničestvo); partly: обма́н (ru) m (obmán), надува́тельство (ru) n (naduvátelʹstvo)
Spanish: estafa (es) f, timo (es) m (colloquial), engaño (es) m, engañifa f, chanchullo (es) m, tejemaneje m, petardo (es) m
Swedish: lurendrejeri (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: dolandırma
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Verb edit

scam (third-person singular simple present scams, present participle scamming, simple past and past participle scammed)

(transitive, intransitive) To defraud or embezzle.
Synonym: con

They tried to scam her out of her savings.
(slang) To seek out a partner for casual sex; to hit on.
- 2005, Robert Antoni, Carnival, New York, N.Y.: Black Cat, →ISBN, page 54:
  His friend nudged me. "It's true. JJ only scams black ladies." / "You don't say?" / "J-boy scammed a real live Miss Black Universe once. Met her in a disco down in Honduras. Wearing her title. Since then he's been obsessed."

Translations edit

to defraud or embezzle

Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: اِحْتَالَ (iḥtāla)
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Azerbaijani: atmaq (az)
Bengali: please add this translation if you can
Bulgarian: мамя (bg) (mamja)
Catalan: estafar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 欺詐／欺诈 (zh) (qīzhà), 騙局／骗局 (zh) (piànjú), 詐騙／诈骗 (zh) (zhàpiàn)
Dutch: oplichten (nl)
Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: vedättää (fi), huijata (fi)
French: entourlouper (fr), arnaquer (fr)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: betrügen (de)
Hebrew: הונה (he) (honá), רימה (he) (rimá)
Hindi: please add this translation if you can
Italian: truffare (it), imbrogliare (it), raggirare (it), fregare (it)
Japanese: please add this translation if you can
Khmer: ស៊ីឆ (sii cʰɑɑ), ឆីឆ (cʰəy-cʰɑɑ), បោកប្រាស់ (baok prah)
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: и́змами pf (ízmami), ма́ми impf (mámi)
Portuguese: aplicar um golpe, lograr (pt)
Russian: обма́нывать (ru) (obmányvatʹ), кида́ть (ru) (kidátʹ)
Spanish: estafar (es), timar (es)
Swedish: lura (sv), scama (colloquial)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: dolandırmak (tr)
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

References edit

Jonathon Green (2024) “scam v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Anagrams edit

ACMs, ACSM, CAMs, CASM, CSMA, M. A. Sc., M.A.Sc., MACs, MASc, MCAs, Macs, SMAC, cams, macs, masc, masc.

Middle Irish edit

Etymology edit

Attested only in the plural form scaim. From Proto-Celtic *skamos. Cognate with Welsh ysgafn ("light") and Welsh ysgyfaint ("(pair of) lungs"), Breton skañv, Cornish skav.

Noun edit

scam

lung

References edit

Matasović, R. (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, p.339. Brill: Boston.