{UAH} Conman

Baboons,

I bet y'all dont know what "Conman" or "Con Man" means, neither its origin.

So often we use the term in derogatory ways to refer to a crook or sweet-talking sly person or at most, to a broad daylight thief or swindler.

Here is where it all started but first you may want to know it's a merger of two words which, pronounced sequentially sound perfectly normal and not disturbing.

Conman comes from "Confidence Man" - usually shortened to "Con".

The term first came into use in 1849 when the New York Herald punished a story about the arrest of William Thompson  entitled "Confidence Man"

"William Thompson was an American criminal and Con artist whose deceptions probably caused the term confidence man to be coined.

Operating in New York City in the late 1840s, a genteelly dressed Thompson would approach an upper-class mark, pretending they knew each other, and begin a brief conversation. After initially gaining the mark's trust, Thompson would ask whether he had the confidence to lend Thompson his watch. Upon taking the watch, Thompson would depart, never returning the watch.

Thompson used various aliases including Samuel Thompson, James Thompson, Samuel Thomas, Samuel Powel, Samuel Williams, William Evans, Samuel Willis, William Davis, and William Brown.

Thompson was arrested and incarcerated in The Tombs in 1849. The New Herald  recalling his explicit appeals to the victim's "confidence", dubbed him the "confidence man"" 

Now you now how two good words became autonomy with crime.

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