I had the occasion to use the word snooker and, in looking it up, found that a synonym was hoodwink, which made me look in word detective (thanks museamuse!) for the derivation of that word. Quite an interesting word:

"Back in the 16th century, 'wink' meant to firmly close the eyes, not the brief, jaunty wink we know today. To 'hoodwink' someone was to literally blindfold them with a hood, often the sort used by executioners. Hoodwinking was also a tactic of thieves, who would throw a hood over their victims' heads before robbing them. This literal sense of 'hoodwinking' was joined in the 17th century by the metaphorical sense of 'hoodwinking' we use today -- to blind someone by trickery or deceit in order to take advantage of them."

Are hoodwink and snooker and dupe all synonyms? Or do their meanings differ slightly?

I'll try again.
(The post shows that there are 5 replies when in fact there aren't any. They're probably my previous goes at posting this which kept timing out. If they do show up I'll delete them later.)

As far as I'm aware 'hoodwink' and 'dupe' are synonyms but 'snooker' is usually used to mean that you have put someone in a position where his plans can't proceed rather than fooled him. It's more like saying that you've checkmated him.
It's a straightforward sporting metaphor. In the game of snooker, a 'snooker, is putting the cue ball in a position where its path through to any ball that it can legally strike is blocked by a ball that it isn't allowed to strike.

Edited to add.
They did show up when this one posted OK. They've been deleted !


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quote:

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I had the occasion to use the word snooker...

AND

Are hoodwink and snooker and dupe all synonyms? Or do their meanings differ slightly?

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First, I am curious as to how you used snooker: what was the context of the conversation?

Second, in looking up these words, I found hoodwindk to mean: To take in by deceptive means; deceive. and snooker to mean: To fool; dupe and dupe to mean: To deceive

So based on this, I would say they do mean the same thing, however, I think you would use each word in a different sense and context, and they would not necessarily be interchangable.

Yes, I agree, Morgan, that the 3 words are not really interchangeable, and I was wondering what the subtle differences were. In my case, dupe and hoodwink just did not seem appropriate, though dupe would have been better, I think. After reading BobHale's response though, I am not even sure I used snooker correctly. I was emailing someone about a colleague whom I thought had been manipulated by someone to do something bad. The colleague is really a good person, but I felt she had been snookered by another despicable person. Was I not using it correctly, BobHale?

That's certainly how I've always used it and how I've always understood it to be used. I've just looked it up in the Collins English Dictionary which gives

quote:

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to place (someone) in a difficult situation; to thwart; to defeat

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That seems to agree with how I use it. I've never heard it used as a synonym for dupe although when someone says 'I've snookered him' I suppose it might be interpretted that way.

And please, just Bob will do.

Habent Abdenda Omnes Praeter Me ac Simiam Meam

Read all about my travels around the world here.