the.com/double bluff
Telling the truth so convincingly no one believes you actually did.
means A deceptive move in which you say the real truth (or make the obvious move) betting that others expect deception and will disbelieve or second-guess it.
from Built from two older words: 'bluff' entered English in the 1800s from Dutch 'bluffen' (to boast or brag) or related Dutch/German roots meaning to deceive, and was adopted into poker slang for betting big on a weak hand to scare opponents off. 'Double' was added, likely from card and game strategy circles, to describe the next-level twist — bluffing about your bluff, or going straight when everyone expects a trick. It's not a single ancient coinage but a layered bit of gaming jargon that escaped into everyday language for any plan built on being too clever to be believed.
- origin
- Poker and espionage share the credit
- mechanism
- Exploits the expectation that bluffers lie about lying
- risk
- Fails instantly against someone equally paranoid
- real use
- Spies call it the double cross's smarter cousin