shell game
4
8.8
- noun
- /ʃɛl ɡeɪm/
:
juego de conchas
- The magician entertained the crowd with a classic shell game involving cups and a small ball.
- play a shell game
But this is the shell game played to justify continued US support of ethnic cleansing.
- But this is the shell game played to justify continued US support of ethnic cleansing.
Examples
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Everyone's a winner in Scalawag's famous three-shell game.
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It's a shell game.
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Have either of you boys ever heard of the shell game?
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What if I told you this whole strategy was a shell game?
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It's all a big shell game.
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We play a little shell game.
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I want to play some more of that shell game.
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It's a shell game, repeated in a variety of different modes.
Blog text (2) -
As budgets tighten up, I am hearing more about gambling and shell games.
Academic text (2002) -
It is a pure and simple shell game using a stacked deck that favors an elite few at the cost of the many.
Blog text (23)
Synonyms
A street trick that hides a small object under three cups to cheat people who bet
How Fraudulent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun combines 'shell' and 'game', so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer it refers to some kind of game involving shells; however, the critical sense of a deceptive gambling trick or con is a cultural/idiomatic extension that is not directly predictable from the constituents. Because lexical clues point to a literal game but not to the cheating/scam meaning, the expression is only partially transparent to learners.
Etymology
The noun shell game comes from a street trick where a cheater hides a small object under one of three fast-moving shells or cups and uses quick hands to confuse players. Because the cheater wins by tricking people, shell game now means 'a dishonest trick to cheat people'.