the.com/impersonation
Flattery's evil twin: borrowing someone's identity without the courtesy of asking.
means The act of pretending to be someone else, usually by copying their voice, manner, or appearance.
from From Latin 'in-' (into) plus 'persona,' the word for the mask an actor wore on stage to play a role. To 'impersonate' originally meant to invest something with a personality, embody it — the sense narrowed over time to mean specifically taking on someone else's identity, fittingly keeping that theatrical root: it's always been about putting on a mask, literal or not.
- legal line
- intent to deceive is what makes it a crime, not accuracy
- parody exception
- satire survives if everyone knows it is fake
- oldest version
- impostors claiming royal bloodlines predate photography entirely
- digital upgrade
- deepfakes made voice and face theft nearly instant