bluff [E17th] There are two bluffs in English. The older is the steep cliff. It was originally a nautical adjective meaning ‘broad’ describing a ship’s bows. The origin is not known. In the early 18th century it developed the sense ‘surly, abrupt in manner’. The current positive connotation ‘direct and good-natured’ dates from the early 19th century. The Canadian sense ‘grove, clump of trees’ dates from the mid 18th century.

The other bluff, from the late 17th century, was first ‘to blindfold, hoodwink’. The word was adopted from Dutch bluffen ‘to brag, boast’. During the mid 19th century poker players in the USA began to use it—when players ‘bluffed’ in the game they tried to mislead others as to how good their hand of cards really was. The game of poker itself was called bluff. To call someone’s bluff meant making another player show their hand to reveal that its value was weaker than their heavy betting had suggested. See also buff.