Definition: verb to deviate from the truth : equivocate : lie

Etymology: Latin praevaricatus, past participle of praevaricari to act in collusion, literally, to straddle, from prae- + varicare to straddle, from varus bowlegged

(circa 1631)

Quotation:

In my younger days, when I was sent out from Patton, Corbett & Strode to depose people — claimants, witnesses, local government officials — I soon learned, in a way I had not fully realized, that people lie. Oh, do they lie, they fib with smiles on their faces, they prevaricate with tears in their eyes, they fabricate looking at you straight on, they perjure themselves with monotone certainty and they dissemble with righteous indignation.

- from The Sunday Serial in The New York Times Magazine

A cool word with a cool origin. I like that it started out as “bowlegged” then morphed into “straddle” and took that metaphor to apply to language as “to lie”. I’m pretty sure there’s a word for these type of metaphor-words…but I don’t know it and I’m too lazy to look it up right now. The quote comes from a sweet little noir mystery story in one of my favorite publications–The Times Magazine. You should check it out.