[Ads-l] Scam etymology

[Stephen Goranson]

Many of these examples may fit disingenuous scheme.

sg

On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 10:24 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Jonathon Green's Dictionary of Slang (GDoS) has an entry for the
> phrase "what's the scam?" with a first citation in 1971. The sense is
> "what's happening". The 1949 excerpt by Earl Wilson (I posted
> previously) matches that sense.
>
> [Begin excerpt from GDoS]
> what’s the scam?
> (US) what’s happening? what’s going on?
>
> 1971 [US]  E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).
> [End excerpt from GDoS]
>
> OED does not have an entry for the phrase "what’s the scam?"
>
> Date: May 18, 1949
> Newspaper: Evening Courier
> Newspaper Location: Camden, New Jersey
> Article: It Happened Last Night
> Author: Earl Wilson
> Quote Page 35, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-courier-scam/199342664/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "WHAT'S THE SCAM?" Frank said to me.
> (Scam's Hollywood slang for "deal," "plot," "news," etc.)
> "That's what I want to know," I said.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is another match for the phrase with the desired sense in 1956.
>
> Date: October 1956
> Periodical: Popular Electronics
> Volume 5, Issue 4
> Article Title: Hi Tide in the Tweeter
> Author: Carl Kohler
> Start Page 77, Quote Page 125, Column 1
> Publisher: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois
>
>
> https://archive.org/details/sim_popular-electronics_1956-10_5_4/page/124/mode/2up?q=scam
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "WHAT'CHA doing with that gismo on your back, dad?” His youthful face
> was a browned question mark. "I've been watching you for more'n hour.
> What's the scam, man?"
> I explained the scam ... in detail.
> "See that there buoy out there?" ...
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 9:41 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > There were three entries for "scamus" in this 1935 dictionary of
> > underworld slang. Either the term was ill-defined, or the editor was
> > confused.
> >
> > Date: 1935 Copyright
> > Book Title: The Underworld Speaks
> > Editor: Albin J. Pollock
> > Unnumbered Page
> > Publisher: Prevent Crime Bureau, San Francisco, California
> >
> >
> https://archive.org/details/underworldspeaks0000albi/page/n113/mode/2up?q=scamus
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > Scamus, a jail.
> > Scamus, a lewd act.
> > Scamus, a vice den.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 9:01 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> > <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Widely syndicated gossip columnist Earl Wilson suggested that "scam"
> > > was "Hollywood slang" and offered his readers a very different
> > > explanation in 1949.
> > >
> > > Date: May 18, 1949
> > > Newspaper: Evening Courier
> > > Newspaper Location: Camden, New Jersey
> > > Article: It Happened Last Night
> > > Author: Earl Wilson
> > > Quote Page 35, Column 5
> > > Database: Newspapers.com
> > >
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-courier-scam/199342664/
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > "WHAT'S THE SCAM?" Frank said to me.
> > > (Scam's Hollywood slang for "deal," "plot," "news," etc.)
> > > "That's what I want to know," I said.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > Garson O'Toole
> > >
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 8:45 PM Ben Zimmer
> > > <00001aae0710f4b7-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Green's Dictionary of Slang has this related sense of the verb
> "scam":
> > > >
> > > > ---
> > > > https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/ffxh2sa
> > > > 4. (US campus, also _scam on_) to go in search of and look over the
> > > > opposite sex for casual sex.
> > > > 1985 Eble _Campus Sl._ Oct. 9: scam -- to check out [...] Let’s go
> to the
> > > > pit and do some scamming on the guys.
> > > > 1992 D. Burke _Street Talk 2_ 2: I can’t believe you’re scamming on
> that
> > > > goob!
> > > > 1996 Eble _Sl. and Sociability_ 51: College students, who are
> perennially
> > > > preoccupied with the quest for a partner for romance or sex,
> _cruise_, _put
> > > > it in cruise mode_, _check it out_, _scam_, _scope_, or _troll_.
> > > > 2004 T. Fey _Mean Girls_ [movie script] You do not come to a party
> at my
> > > > house with Gretchen and then scam on some poor, innocent girl [...]
> three
> > > > days later.
> > > > ---
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org