On this day in history, in 1795, a young(ish) general named Napoleon Bonaparte rises to national prominence after being named to defend the French National Convention. Bonaparte would no doubt do his job and do it well. Just a few short years later, he would taken over the entire country and then attempt to take over Europe. A good many people probably felt quite cozened by his behavior.
Cozened (“kuh-zend” or “cuz-end”)
Verb; from Dictionary.com:
1. To cheat, deceive or trick
2. To defraud
Her stepfather always complained about how successfully she cozened the servants into agreeing to her wayward plans.” (How a Lady Weds a Rogue, Katharine Ashe)
Not to be confused with the familial noun “cousin,” cozen is verb and there is nothing friendly about it. Though the word itself comes from uncertain origins, it is likely related to a French word, cousiner meaning “to cheat on pretext of being a cousin” (which is really not very nice and probably worse than simply cheating a stranger or passing acquaintance; cousins, after all, are family). Cozen may also be related to the Middle English word cosyn, meaning trickery or fraud, which are words close to its modern day definition.
Your turn, bookworms – have you ever cozened someone into reading a book you knew they wouldn’t like? Or even just cozened them into reading at all?
[Photo Credit: Google Images]
