Monday words: chicanery, chicane

[ersatz-read.livejournal.com]

chicanery  (shĭ-kā′nə-rē), noun

1. Trickery or deception through the use of sly or evasive language.
2. A tricky or deceitful manner.

chicane (shĭ-kān′)
noun
1. Chicanery
2. A bridge or whist hand without trumps
3. In racing, an artificial feature creating extra turns in the road (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicane)

verb
1. To trick, deceive.
2. To use chicanery.

Etymology:  1600s, French chicaner, to quibble

Comments

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

The key here is that it's verbal deception -- so a large con, or even running a game of three-card monte, isn't chicanery, nor is bribery. Or at least, that's what it used to be -- the meaning has been broadening in practical use.

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

Ferris Bueller is a master of chicanery.

However, I did not realize it was also a racing term.