the.com/ploy
A strategy with a PR problem — same cunning, worse reputation.
means A tactic or maneuver used to gain an advantage, usually with a whiff of manipulation about it.
from Likely a 18th-century Scots shortening of 'employ' or 'deploy,' originally just meaning a pastime or occupation. The sneaky connotation crept in later, narrowing the word from 'what you're doing' to 'what you're up to.'
- etymology
- shortened from employ in the 1700s
- vs strategy
- strategy admits itself, a ploy denies it
- tell
- usually unmasked by the word actually