"Triuki"

[Gary Toops]

The 18th ed. of the _Slovar' inostrannyx slov_ (M.: 1989, p. 522) lists
TRJUK as deriving from French _truc_.  Two definitions are provided for
_trjuk_, the second being marked as a "figurative meaning" (perenosnoe
znachenie):

1) lovkij, e^effektnyj prie"m; iskusnyj, slozhnyj manevr; odno iz glav-
   nyx vyrazitel'nyx sredstv cirkovogo iskusstva, primenjaemoe v akro-
   batike, v illjuzionnyx nomerax, klounade, e^kcentrike i dr.;

2) lovkaja prodelka, uxishchrenie; neozhidannyj (obychno verolomnyj)
   postupok.

As for French _truc_ itself, it does basically mean "thing" or "what-you-
may-call-it (whatchamacallit)", and I've had French friends use it in
reference to such things as nightclubs and discos (apparently to save
themselves the trouble of deciding whether to call them "boi^tes de nuit,"
"dansings" or "discotheques").  In Que'bec, _truc_ occurs also in the
Hallowe'en formula _Truc ou traite!_, which therefore does in fact
exhibit some correlation between French _truc_ and English _trick_.

Gary H. Toops
Wichita State University
Wichita, KS 67260-0011