- Meaning
- This idiom refers to being easily deceived or fooled by something trivial or superficial, often due to inexperience or gullibility. It evokes the image of a bird caught by chaff (grain husks) instead of real food, and is used to describe someone tricked by a ruse or distracted by something worthless.
- Origin
- The phrase likely stems from 16th-century English rural life, where farmers used chaff to lure birds into traps, exploiting their inability to distinguish it from grain. It appeared metaphorically in William Shakespeare’s *Othello* (1604), where Iago speaks of deceiving someone ‘with chaff.’ By the 17th century, it was a proverb for gullibility, as seen in John Ray’s 1678 *English Proverbs*. Its use declined in modern English but persists in literary or historical contexts, reflecting themes of deception and naivety.
- Variants
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- Caught with chaff
- Taken with chaff
- Examples
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- He was caught with chaff, believing the scam email promising quick riches.
- The young investor was taken with chaff by the flashy but fraudulent startup pitch.
- Caught with chaff, she fell for the fake designer bag at the market.
- They were caught with chaff, distracted by the rumor while the real issue went unnoticed.
- Don’t be caught with chaff—check the facts before trusting that offer.
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