Etymograph

English

scam

Scam may come from English scamp ‘swindler, cheater’.

  1. English1500–presentscamp‘swindler, cheater’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2005scam

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentscamp‘swindler, cheater’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2005scam

Earliest quotation: 2005, Robert Antoni, Carnival: “His friend nudged me. "It's true. JJ only scams…”

The story

Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame and sham. First use appears c. 1963 in the periodical Time. The word became common use among the US drug culture when in early 1980, after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.

Every English word from English scamp

Today it means

noun A fraudulent or dishonest deal. A swindle.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / English scamp / scam

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