Who's Hornswoggling Whom?

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

Forget Pandora. When Eirene opens her box, peace takes over.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

I would count my blessings, but I don’t have all day and I am not an accountant. Besides, who could keep track?
I’ll just say thank you – again.

I would list the ways your love has shaped my life, but I’d surely overlook several thousand of them.
I’ll just try to remember to say I love you – again.

I would recall the times you have filled me with joy and hope, but my memory isn’t what it used to be and the present joys and hopes seem livelier.
I’ll just bask in the warmth of your glory in my life - again.

Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“After the fall, things got more interesting. It even snowed.”

[I love it when He has layers of meaning in His teaching, but He never said this.]

D. Blog: Weird Word of the Week

"Hornswoggle" (a lot of this in politics, advertising, religion, even sports?? etc.)

From Merriam-Webster online:

Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): horn·swog·gled; horn·swog·gling \-g(ə-)liŋ\
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: circa 1829
slang : bamboozle, hoax

Or,

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.


TRANSITIVE VERB:
Inflected forms: horn·swog·gled, horn·swog·gling, horn·swog·gles
Chiefly Northern & Western U.S. To bamboozle; deceive.

ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown.

OUR LIVING LANGUAGE:
We do not know the origin of hornswoggle. We do know that it belongs to a group of “fancified” words that were particularly popular in the American West in the 19th century. Hornswoggle is one of the earliest, first appearing around 1829. It is possible that these words were invented to poke fun at the more “sophisticated” East.