the.com/fake
The highest form of flattery that also voids the warranty.
means Made to look like the real thing but isn't — a copy, counterfeit, or pretense passing itself off as genuine.
from Murky territory, etymologically speaking — 'fake' surfaces in English only around the late 1700s, first in criminals' slang, and nobody's fully certain where it came from. One leading theory ties it to the older verb 'feague' (to spruce something up deceptively, possibly from German 'fegen,' to polish or sweep), while others link it to 'feak,' an old term for a lock of hair worn as disguise. Either way, it arrived through the underworld — a word born among forgers and swindlers before it went respectable.
- etymology
- Possibly from thieves slang meaning to do or rob
- economics
- Counterfeit goods cost global trade over 500 billion yearly
- psychology
- Fake smiles use fewer muscles than genuine ones
- irony
- Fake news often spreads faster than real news