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> , Webster has:
> >
> > Fraudster
> > chiefly British : a person who engages in fraud : cheat
>
> Dictionaries can be wrong, but maybe M-W is saying that
> American English
> never referred to occupations in earnest with -ster, while Britain's
> English has used or recognized it for fifteen centuries.
>
> Two 1980s dictionaries I have at hand differ about -ster,
> while neither
> makes any statements about it as being chiefly British. Random House
> Second Unabridged says -ster is used in forming nouns, is often
> derogratory, referring especially to occupation, habit, or
> association.
> American Heritage Third says much the same, but does not say
> that it is
> ever derogatory. AH also adds a use for one who is
> (youngster). I'm glad
> they did that, because I think it is precise and accurate,
> for American
> English anyway.
>
> I share Gene's sense that American usage in neologisms is more slang
> (hipster, trickster, ...). I think it seems a little bit mocking of
> affectation, as if suggesting that many people see themselves
> that way
> but few truly succeed at it.
>
> Thus, a fraudster is being mocked as a would-be fraud,
> someone who will
> attempt to be a fraud, but will most likely be caught by powerful new
> fraud-detection technology. Is it slang, marketing jargon, American
> English, or what? As a contractor, I would probably repeat it
> and use it
> in documentation if its use was already established in my
> workplace. It
> won't confuse anyone, and will ease exchanges between a
> customer and the
> customer support team.
Where does that leave "trickster" as applied - many years ago, in
separate places, though always as the English translation of somebody
else's mythology:
- Loki, the trickster
- Raven, the trickster
- Kokopelli...
I suppose you could say that, since their respective religions have not
triumphed into the modern age, the various tricksters are mockable as
having been less than successful at their trade.
You had "youngster", so I won't bring up "oldster", but how about
"roadster"?
Cheers,
- Kevin
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