shell game

English

A shell game in The Conjurer, by Bosch

An illegal shell game in Stockholm, Sweden.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

shell game (plural shell games)

1. A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups (or shells) a pea-sized object is concealed under, after the party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity for sleight-of-hand trickery.
   • 2009, Michael Benson, Cons and Frauds, Infobase, →ISBN, page 21:

     Another common form of short con is the shell game. This scam has the advantage of giving the criminal the ability to rip off many marks all at one location.

2. Any confidence scheme, especially one involving the rapid movement of investment funds to a location beyond recovery.

Synonyms

• thimblerig

Translations

game which requires the bettor to guess under which of three small cups a pea-sized object has been placed

• Bulgarian: тука има тука няма (tuka ima tuka njama)
• Czech: skořápky (cs) f pl
• German: Hütchenspiel (de) n
• Hungarian: itt a piros, hol a piros (literally “here’s the red; where’s the red”)
• Irish: cluiche sliogán m, cleas na méaracán m
• Russian: напёрстки pl (napjórstki)
• Spanish: trile (es) m, Pepito paga doble (es) m, mosqueta (es) f
• Swedish: bägarspelet n
• Welsh: tric y tri gwniadur m

See also

• three-card monte

Further reading

• shell game on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Category:shell game on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons