Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Charlatan

Charlatan - those that I have come across and the term could apply.

A page started way back in 2006 dedicated to those I think deserve the title

What with the surge in interest in Social Networking and Narcisurfing (or looking for yourself  on the Internet by any other term), this is likely to be seen by those that I may have named.

According to - - Wikipedia: A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage by false pretenses. If the  ascription is false, then "charlatan" is pejorative; if it is true, then the  description "charlatan" is no libel.

The word comes from French charlatan, a version of "Charley," a seller of medicines who might advertise his presence with music and an outdoor stage show. The greatest of the Parisian charlatans was Tabarin who set up a stage in the Place Dauphin, Paris from 1618, and whose commedia dell'arte-inspired skits and farces inspired Molière. Ultimately, etymologists trace "charlatan" from either the Italian ciarlare, to prattle; or from Cerretano, a resident of Cerreto, a town that was apparently notorious for producing quacks.

In usage, a subtle difference is drawn between the charlatan and other kinds of confidence people. The charlatan is usually a salesperson. He does not try to create a personal relationship with his marks, or set up an elaborate hoax using roleplaying. Rather, the person called a charlatan is being accused of resorting to quackery, pseudoscience, or some knowingly employed bogus means of impressing people in order to swindle his victims by selling them worthless nostrums and similar goods or services that will not deliver on the promises made for them. The word calls forth the image of an old-time medicine show operator, who has long left town by the time the people who bought his snake oil tonic realize that it does not perform as advertised.

Synonyms for "charlatan" include "mountebank" and "quack".

According to - - Worldnet: ..... a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes

The definition of a Charlatan is similar to that of a "Shill". In the case of a shill the person so labeled makes out that they are someone they are not to promote a product or service.

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