pretense

(See also HYPOCRISY.)

ass in a lion’s skin A pretender; a fool posing as a sage. The allusion is to the fable of an ass that donned a lion’s skin in an attempt to masquerade as the noble beast, but betrayed itself by its braying.

beware of Greeks bearing gifts Distrust the kindnesses of known enemies; suspect an ulterior motive when adversaries act as benefactors. This warning to look for guile lest one be made the victim of treachery is a variation on the words of Laocoön in Book II of Virgil’s Aeneid:

The lines were spoken in reference to the so-called Trojan horse, left outside the gates of Troy supposedly as a gift or peace-offering from the Greeks, with whom Troy was at war. Laocoön’s advice went unheeded, however, and the horse was brought inside the city gates; the Greeks hidden therein thus successfully sacked Troy and razed it to the ground.

four-flusher A bluffer; a pretender; a deadbeat, particularly one who pretends to have money but sponges or borrows from others. This expression derives from the card game of poker in which a flush is a hand (set of five cards) with all cards of the same suit. A four-flush is a hand with four cards of one suit and one card of another suit—worthless in poker. A good bluffer, particularly one who is poker-faced, upon finding himself with a four-flush, might bet in such a way as to make the other players think he is holding a five-card flush—almost a certain winner. Since this kind of bluffing requires heavy betting and involves a substantial risk, many a four-flusher has overextended himself and been unable to cover his losses. Thus, the expression was extended from its poker reference to its current, more general application.

So, perhaps, was a four-flushing holdup man named Gunplay Maxwell. (Wallace Stegner, Mormon Country, 1942)

fox’s sleep Pretended indifference to what is going on; noticing or observing a person, situation, or event without seeming to do so. This expression refers to the belief that foxes sleep with one eye open. Although this is not true in the literal sense, foxes and many other animals seem to remain on a “stand-by alert” when they sleep, ready for action and totally awake on a moment’s notice. A related expression is sleep with one eye open.

iron hand in a velvet glove Tyranny, harshness, or inflexibility hidden under a soft, gentle exterior. At least one source has attributed this expression, in use since about 1850, to Napoleon. One of the several variations of the expression appeared in The Victorian Hansard (January, 1876):

look as if butter wouldn’t melt in one’s mouth Used contemptuously to describe a person of deceptively modest appearance, a goody-goody. The implication is always that the person’s true nature is something quite different from what it seems. Hugh Latimer uses the expression, which dates from the early 1500s, in his Seven Sermons Made Upon The Lord’s Prayer (1552):

method in one’s madness A reason, plan, or orderliness that is obscured by a person’s apparent or feigned insanity or stupidity. This expression developed from a line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet:

It has enjoyed widespread popular usage since the 17th century.

paper tiger See INEFFECTUALLY.

play possum To deceive or dissemble; to sham illness or death. This expression alludes to the opossum’s defense mechanism of feigning death to ward off predators. In contemporary usage, the common phrase often suggests the feigning of ignorance.

Quaker guns Empty threats; harmless barbs; all bark and no bite. This expression comes from the former use of counterfeit guns, simulated to bluff the enemy into thinking that a ship or fort was well-fortified. Such were described as “Quaker” owing to that sect’s doctrine of nonviolence. This U.S. expression is rarely heard today.

ringer A person or thing entered in a contest under false pretenses; a person or thing bearing an uncanny resemblance to another. The expression’s first sense usually implies the misrepresentation of the contender’s identity or potential. Although this American term finds its principal use in the horse-racing world, it may be applied to human competitors as well.

The phrase’s meaning of two nearly identical persons or things, most often expressed as dead ringer, is quite common in the United States.

sail under false colors To pretend or appear to be what one is not; to put up a false front or façade; to act or speak hypocritically. In the days when buccaneers plundered on the open seas, it was common practice for a pirate ship to hoist the colors (flag) of a potential victim’s ally in order to sneak up on the ship without arousing suspicion. At the last moment, the pirates would lower the false colors, “show their true colors,” the Jolly Roger, and attack. This expression and its variations are now used figuratively.

sly-boots See SHREWDNESS.

wolf in sheep’s clothing One who hides his true evil intentions or character behind a façade of friendship; a hypocrite or deceiver. This expression derives from an Aesop fable in which a wolf, wrapped in the fleece of a sheep, enters the fold and proceeds to devour the unsuspecting lambs. A wolf in a lamb’s skin, in use as early as 1460, seems to be an older variation of the current phrase, which did not appear until 1591. A well-known Biblical passage has served to increase the phrase’s familiarity: