Today’s Word of the Day is “Decoy.”
Oh, no, wait, that’s a hunting term. Today’s WOTD actually is a hockey term meaning “to fake an opponent out of position.” Got it? Also, it’s a nickname for “Donald.” Don’t believe me? Check out the organist at St. Paul’s Memorial Church in Charlottesville, VA. Hi Deke!
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“Deke” originated as a shortened form of decoy. Ernest Hemingway used deke as a noun referring to a hunting decoy in a number of his works. (From his 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees: “I offered to put the dekes out with him.”) In the 1940s, deke began appearing in ice-hockey contexts in Canadian media. It is used in reference to the act of faking an opponent out of position, much like how decoy is used for luring one into a trap. Today, deke has scored in many other sports, including baseball, basketball, soccer, and football. Occasionally it checks its way into more general usage, like when it refers to deceptive or evasive moves or actions.