pup [M16th] The word pup is a shortening of puppy [LME], from Old French poupee ‘doll, plaything’, which is related to poppet [LME] and puppet [M16th]. To sell someone a pup is to swindle them. This dates from the early 20th century and was presumably based on the idea of dishonestly selling someone a young and inexperienced dog when they were expecting an older, trained animal. A sock puppet was originally a simple puppet made from a sock, but since around 2000 has been used to mean someone manipulated by another.