CHOUSE
Wild Word Friday!
I’d never heard of the word CHOUSE (rhymes with house) until a month ago when I was browsing through a dictionary, and there it was, important enough to be tucked in its own little dictionary niche. Thus I learned that a CHOUSE is a swindler.
Used as a verb, to CHOUSE means to trick or cheat, as in, “Don’t trust him, he has been known to CHOUSE people out of their money.”
CHOUSE comes to us from the Turkish word chawush, which means messenger or interpreter. It’s only rumor, but CHOUSE is said to have entered the English language via the auspices of a Turkish interpreter who was supposed to have swindled a few merchants in London. This CHOUSE-ing took place in 1609, according to my source, which is Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language.
Do you ever read a dictionary for entertainment? Tell me I’m not the only one!
Blessings!
Sue
When I was growing up, chouse meant to chase and round up cattle. It was a command you gave a cow dog to bust into a thicket and roust the cattle out of it.
I do read the dictionary for entertainment from time to time. I love finding new words and trying to find a way to incorporate them into my fiction. 🙂
Thanks for the new use of a word. 🙂
Thank you, Erica! I didn’t know about chouse as a “chase and round up” word! Love that!