"Does it trick?"

[Joel S. Berson]

This is possible -- for both the reasons
below.  If I can remember which barrista, I'll
enquire when I see her again.  (I find it
interesting that, having become convinced of what
I heard -- I actually asked her to repeat it -- I
did not think of other possibilities.)

Joel

At 12/15/2007 12:45 AM, Seán Fitzpatrick wrote:
>Could she possibly have said "I hope it DOES THE trick"?  In the clatter,
>chatter, and bang of a Starbucks, aging ears can keep you out of it as much
>as actually being out of it does.
>
>Seán Fitzpatrick
>Wake up with Freedom Fighters
>http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/
>
>-----Original Message-----
>"Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
>Subject: "Does it trick?"
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---
>
>Uncertain how to order more coffee in my latte, I asked the cash
>register attendee in English, who then spoke the correct Starbuckese
>to the barrista. When I received my "triple grande latte", the
>barrista said to me "I hope it doesn't trick". Once again, I didn't
>speak the language. She explained, that meant "I hope it's what you wanted."
>
>What do the experts say about this use of trick (verb)? That it
>arises from "To deceive by a trick; to cheat" seems plausible, but
>surely it has moved some distance.
>
>Joel

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