Make Your Point: CANARD

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pronounce CANARD:

kuh NARD

connect this word to others:

(Source)

There's Regina telling Aaron a canard about Cady: a stupid rumor, or a made-up story that deceives people as it circulates.

See if you can think of a term for a cool rumor: a rumor that does deceive people, but in a way that seems welcome. It's b__ tr____o: literally "well found," or "fabricated, but appropriate anyway."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

In French, canard means both "a hoax" and "a duck." Why? It might be a reference to a phrase in French ("vendre un canard à moitié") that literally means "to half-sell a duck" but can figuratively mean "to cheat someone, to deceive someone."

Well, that's pretty hilarious, so it's no surprise that we took canard into English. Since 1843 or so, we've used it to mean "a false rumor, or a ridiculous story told to deceive people."

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the countable kind: "We didn't believe that canard;" "I can't believe they swallowed those old canards."

Other forms:

The plural is "canards."

how to use it:

Pick the formal, serious, semi-common, intellectual-sounding word "canard" when you want to dismiss some harmful, unfair, or ignorant belief or story as untrue and ridiculous. It's more emphatic than synonyms like "myth" and "stereotype."

Talk about people spreading or repeating canards, or believing or disbelieving canards.

You might specify which canard you're talking about with the phrase "the canard that such-and-such happened," as in "the canard that women are not as funny as men (New York Times)," "the canard that 'Game of Thrones' is a woman-hating series (Salon)," and "the old canard that 'bad choices and the cultures that produce them' cause poverty, not the other way around (Salon)."

examples:

"Juan... is a model of gay acceptance, slaying the canard that black people are more homophobic than white people."
— Steven V. Thrasher, The Guardian, 29 October 2016

"Along with the illusion that tax cuts increase revenue, the notion that authoritarian regimes are clear-sighted, clever and efficient is one of the more persistent canards in political pathology."
— Mike Lofgren, Salon, 18 February 2023

has this page helped you understand "canard"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "canard" without saying "whopper" or "tall tale."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "The idea that (somebody does something) is a canard that smacks of (some bad quality or emotion)."

Example 1: "The idea that rich American high schoolers make a real impact in the lives of impoverished children by visiting them for two days is a canard that smacks of white saviorism."

Example 2: "The idea that [Yoko Ono] doomed the [Beatles] was always a canard that smacked of misogyny and racism."
— Amanda Hess, New York Times, 8 December 2021

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

This month, our game is "Smorgasbord of Wordly Lore!"

Try a trivia question each day. It’ll have something to do with a food or a drink. You can play on hard mode by answering the question cold, or play on easy mode by highlighting the multiple choice options. To see the correct answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today: "Sparrowgrass" is an outdated form of the word for what vegetable?

Highlight below to reveal the multiple choice options.…
A. broccoli
B. cabbage
C. asparagus

review this word:

1. The opposite of a CANARD is

A. a CLEAN SLATE.
B. an ACCURATE REPORT.
C. a HIGHLY EMBELLISHED RESUME.

2. During Barack Obama's first run for the US presidency, some media outlets gave _____ to the canard that _____.

A. legitimacy .. he wasn't a legal citizen of the US
B. too much attention .. he was handsome, athletic, and well-spoken
C. a boost .. he was history's first African American to be nominated by a major party

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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