guy [L16th] Expressions such as fall guy, wise guy and tough guy are all American in origin, and it used only to be Americans who called men (and now women) guys at all. This use of the word dates from the late 19th century, as a development of an earlier sense applied to a person of grotesque appearance. Before it came to be applied to people, though, the word was used—as it still is today—to describe an effigy of Guy Fawkes, one of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators and Catholic extremists who intended to blow up James I and his parliament in 1605. People traditionally burnt a Guy on a bonfire each year on 5 November, the anniversary of the plot. To guy someone is now to make fun of them, which was originally theatrical slang from the mid 19th century. It came from the practice of guying, or carrying a Guy or an effigy of someone unpopular around on 5 November. The guy rope on a tent is unconnected, and probably comes from a German word. See also fire.