On Sun, Aug 12, 2012 at 9:54 AM, Steven D'Aprano steve@pearwood.infowrote:
This is a variation of the old and tired bit of husksterism, which
My standard translation sources do not even list that word or similar ones.
I'm not sure what Bryan means either. I think he may have conflated a couple of different words:
"husker" -- one who husks corn (removes the outer husk to get to the kernels)
"hustler" -- one who hustlers, a shrewd and unscrupulous person who knows how to get around difficulties, usually implying that they are a confidence trickster ("con artist")
The "-ism" suffix creates a noun, in this case, the state of being a "huskster", whatever that is supposed to be. Hustler?
I couldn't post to the list so I sent the OP an email which I hope he will forgive me for; won't happen again.
the word I think you are all looking for is 'hucksterism'.
Felmon