[Ads-l] Scam etymology

[Bill Mullins]

"Escamoteur" is an old (18th century, if not before) French word for "conjurer".  Given that street magicians were often thought of as unsavory characters (see, for example, the pickpocket in Heironymous Bosch's painting "The Conjuror")

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conjurer_(painting)#/media/File:Hieronymus_Bosch_051.jpg

I've often wondered if "scam" came from that term.

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