“Phony”

Phony is a word that I do not hear very often. It has never come up in a mature conversation, and I have never heard an adult use the word besides for maybe my second grade teacher. Whenever I speak about a person or thing that is not what they seem, I usually say they are fake or false rather than say someone or something is phony.

If someone were to ask me what phony means or what a phony person is, without thinking I would probably say it means fake or not what they seem. I have never been forced to think beyond this crude definition for the word, and if it were not for this assignment, I most likely never would have.

There are many words and phrases that mean something similar to what phony means. An object that is phony can be counterfeit, fake, not genuine, false, bogus or spurious. Something that is phony can be used to deceive, such as a phony name or excuse. A phony person is more commonly known as insincere, hypocritical, pretentious, an imposter or fraudulent. Phony people give off false impressions and profess beliefs or opinions that they do not hold. Phony people do not lie intentionally; I do not think that phoniness is always something that people who are characterized by it are aware of, rather it comes more naturally.

Come to think about it, phony people are pretenders. I feel that people are usually phony in order to fit in. Phony is the girl who appears to be interested in guys, shopping, designer bags and cell phones to fit in with a popular group of girls even though she truly prefers sports, sweatpants, and no makeup. People can act phony without actually being phony, for example when a man who is not doing well at home goes out with his friends with a smile for a night, and pretends that all is well even if he usually does not need to. Some people act phony in order to please others. The employee compliments his or her boss, a student can suck up to a teacher, and a boyfriend may praise his girlfriend all for the same reason.

Overall, phony people, as well as phony things, are not what they appear to be. The surface of someone who is phony is projected so that that person may fit it, please others, or ignore their own problems. People can be phony without realizing it, and more often than not people can act phony under certain circumstances without possessing the quality as a character trait.