Did you
know?

fly-by-night
adjective phrase

- unreliable or untrustworthy, especially in business or financial matters

- one that seeks to evade responsibilities and especially creditors by flight

Oxford Languages / Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The phrase “fly-by-night”, from 1796, was originally a form of reproach to a woman signifying that she was a witch.

From 1823 fly-by-night referred to anyone who departs hastily from a recent activity, especially while owing money.

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FLYING PHRASES

- pigs might fly = there is no chance of that ever happening (used to show skepticism or cynicism about someone’s hypothetical remark).

- a fly in the ointment = a flaw or imperfection that detracts from something positive.

- a fly on the wall = one who is able to observe something closely but invisibly and without interfering in the situation.

- barfly = someone who spends the greater part of their time in bars or other drinking establishments.

- to fly the nest = to move out of one’s parents’ house for the first time.

- to fly the flag = to stand up for, support, or defend someone or something.

- the fur will fly = there will be serious, perhaps violent, trouble (the image is of a furious fight between dogs or cats)

- fly by the seat of pants = to rely on one’s instinct, as opposed to acting according to a set plan.

- birds of a feather fly together = people who have similar interests, ideas, or characteristics tend to associate well with one another (proverb).

- a fly will not get into a closed mouth = if you say nothing at all, then you can't say anything embarrassing or inappropriate (proverb).

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SYNONYMS

- dishonest and not to be trusted

against the rules, back-alley, back-stabbing, backdoor, bamboozling, bogus, crooked, cunning, cutthroat, dastardly, dirty-dealing, dodgy, double-crossing, double-dealing, double-faced, dubious, duplicitous, economical with the truth, fishy, fly, FLY-BY-NIGHT, hoodwinking, hugger-mugger, iffy, Janus-faced, knavish, Machiavellian, murky, not cricket, not entirely truthful, not kosher, not quite right, of dubious character, off-colour, out of order, Pecksniffian, phoney-baloney, phoney, scoundrelly, scrofulous, shameless, shifty, sleazy, sneaky, snide(y), ungentlemanly, ungodly, unprincipled, unsavoury, unscrupulous, unsporting

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Be careful with crypto-currency, there are a multitude of FLY-BY-NIGHT operators happy to invest your money.”

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THANKS to David for suggesting today’s word.

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40