English
Etymology
English term|play + term|possum (from term|opossum), for the animal�s tendency to pretend to be dead when threatened. First documented 1822.
Verb
en-verb|inf=to play possum|plays possum|playing possum|played possum
- idiom to feign death; to remain quiet and still to escape attention or remain undetected; to lay low.
#: Thinking fast, we played possum hoping the bear wouldn't bother us.
#: The soldier played possum, fooling the sniper.
#: To keep the focus away from his client, the lawyer basically played possum during the entire complex trial, and his tactic paid off with an acquittal.
- idiom to feign sleep, illness, etc.
#: When we used to get home late at night, I would play possum so my daddy would carry me inside and put me in bed.
- idiom|dated to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive.
#*1833, Asa Greene, A Yankee Among the Nullifiers: An Auto-biography, p32
#*:Though, as it afterwards turned out, the Yankee had money enough about him, and was merely playing the �possum all the while.
#*1840, w:Edgar_Allen_Poe|Edgar Allen Poe, s:The_Business_Man|The Business Man, 1
#*:Never imposing upon any one myself, I suffered no one to play the possum with me.
#*1858, w:James_Russell_Lowell|James Russell Lowell, in a letter to w:Oliver_Wendell_Holmes,_Sr.|O.W. Holmes, collected in The Complete Writings of... p31
#*:You have been holding-in all this while � possumus omnes, we all play the �possum...
#*1881, Alexander Lovett Stimson, History of the Express Business'', p354
#*:As none came with the coach from Deadwood, I suppose the amount of funds was insignificant. You can't tell, though, for the stage company is liable to play possum sometimes.
Translations
<!-- Currently, these translations are for more specific idioms and may not relate appropriately to 'play possum'. Consider revising/removing -->
trans-top|to pretend to be dead
Portuguese: fingir-se de morto, fazer-se de morto
trans-mid
trans-bottom
trans-top|to pretend to be asleep
Japanese: ������� (tanukineiri wo suru)
trans-mid
trans-bottom
See also
sham Abraham
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