Snakes, Wolves and Wool: How to Describe Deceit
The English writer Noël Coward once wrote that it is sad to see "how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."
Deceit means keeping the truth hidden, often to get an advantage. Coward was probably saying that people aren't shocked by deceit because they see it so often.
And there are probably as many ways to describe deceit as there are ways to deceive someone!
If you're "talking behind someone's back" you might not be trying to deceive them, but it does mean you're talking about them in secret — and the things you're saying probably aren't very nice.
You can also "go behind someone's back" and do something without their knowledge.
If you're doing this, you might be described as "a snake in the grass." This describes someone who acts friendly, but will do anything to get what they want.
They might even "stab you in the back" — act like your friend, then do something to hurt you.
If they're not a snake, they might be "a wolf in sheep's clothing."
This expression is thought to be thousands of years old. It was used in the Bible, and also by the Greek storyteller Aesop in a story about a wolf who dressed in the skin of a sheep to trick the other sheep and eat them.
Now we use it about someone who looks harmless — like a sheep — but plans to hurt us, like a wolf.
People who wish to deceive may also try to "pull the wool over our eyes."
It's thought this expression was first used in the 19th century, when some people wore wool wigs. If someone pulled your wig down you wouldn't be able to see what was really happening — and it would be easy to trick you.
