Plural of chowse; instances of cheating or deception, or people who cheat others.
From 'chowse,' a variant of 'chouse,' which comes from Turkish çaush (messenger/official), used as a verb meaning to cheat. The term gained popularity in 17th-century England after a famous fraud case.
The word 'chouse' became so synonymous with a specific con artist in 1600s England that it permanently entered English as slang for 'to cheat'—showing how one person's infamy can reshape language itself.
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