canard
noun

- an unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story

- an aircraft whose horizontal stabilizing surfaces are forward of the main wing

- a short winglike control surface projecting from the fuselage of an aircraft, such as a space shuttle, mounted forward of the main wing and serving as a horizontal stabilizer

American Heritage Dictionary

—
WORD ORIGIN

The word "canard” — which means "duck" in French — came to mean "false report" or "hoax” in the 1750s. This meaning was borrowed into English about a century later, around 1840.

The origin of the "false report" meaning in French likely comes from an old French expression vendre un canard à moitié meaning "to half-sell a duck".

The idea was that half-selling a duck was equivalent to not selling it at all, i.e. deceiving or making a fool of the buyer.

—
DROWNING IN CANARDS

Canards have played significant roles throughout history, shaping public opinion and influencing events. During World War II, Nazi propaganda spread the canard that Jews were responsible for Germany's economic woes, fueling anti-Semitism. In more recent times, the false claim that vaccines cause autism, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, has led to dangerous declines in vaccination rates.

The digital age has provided fertile ground for canards to flourish. Social media platforms allow false stories to spread rapidly, often outpacing efforts to debunk them. For instance, the baseless conspiracy theory that 5G networks cause or exacerbate COVID-19 led to real-world consequences, with cell towers vandalized in several countries.

In politics, canards are often weaponized to discredit opponents or sway public opinion. The "birther" conspiracy theory questioning Barack Obama's birthplace persisted throughout his presidency, despite ample evidence of his birth in Hawaii. Similarly, false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election continue to erode trust in democratic institutions.

The persistence of canards highlights the challenges of combating misinformation in an era of information overload. They exploit cognitive biases, emotional responses, and the human tendency to believe information that aligns with preexisting beliefs.

Recognizing and refuting canards requires critical thinking, media literacy, and a willingness to question one's own assumptions. In a world awash with canards, the pursuit of truth remains our only lifeline to reality.

Paul Smith

—
SYNONYMS

a bill of goods, a cock and bull story, a house of cards, a load of bull, a pack of lies, a tall tale, allegation, alternative facts, aspersion, babble, balderdash, baloney, bamboozlement, big lie, blarney, blather, bluff, bogus claim (story), bosh, bunk, bunkum, CANARD, chicanery, claptrap, cock-and-bull story, codswallop, con, concoction, deceit, deception, disinformation, distortion, dodge, drivel, fable, fabrication, fairy tale, fake news, falsehood, falsification, falsity, fib, fiction, figment, fish story, flam, flimflam, flummery, guff, half-truth, hoax, hocus-pocus, hogwash, hokum, hooey, humbug, invention, lie, made-up story, malarkey, misinformation, misrepresentation, myth, old wives' tale, phony story, piffle, poppycock, pretense, propaganda, put-on, rigmarole, rubbish, rumour, ruse, scam, sham, smoke screen, snow job, spoof, subterfuge, tall story, tall tale, taradiddle, tommyrot, trumped-up story, twaddle, untruth, urban legend, whopper, yarn

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

"Some people still believe the CANARD that George Bush deliberately planned the 9-11 plane attacks.”

—
Why Support OWAD?

On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga (my lovely wife and business partner) and our eagle-eyed daughter Jennifer. It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.

Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive

or

Bank transfer:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40

Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.

Thanks so much,

Paul & Helga Smith