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Dummy up

Posted by RRC on January 09, 2008

In Reply to: Dummy up posted by Sana on January 07, 2008

: I have heard about a US slang, "dummy up", which actually means to keep quiet and thus, give no information, but I don't know how it originated. Can anyone answer this question?

Back before political correctness, dumb also meant mute, i.e. not able to speak. Thus dummy was a term for a mute person, mannequins, the puppets used by ventriloquists, etc. To dummy up is therefore to make yourself like an something or someone incapable of speech.

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