Do you know what a sham is?

[CostaCosta]

Ds came home from school having learnt this word. I have never heard of a sham (only in the sense of abbreviated "shambles."

It means something that's false or fake I think

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll that cross stitch pattern is amazing!!

There's a folly over looking Bath called "Sham Castle". It is a screen wall with a central pointed arch flanked by two 3-storey circular turrets, which extend sideways to a 2-storey square tower at each end of the wall.

So it's basically a wall, faked to look like the front of a castle (hence 'Sham'), so from a distance, it looks like an actual castle. The effect is even more convinceing when it's lit up at night.

I have never heard of a sham (only in the sense of abbreviated "shambles."

It's not an abbreviation for "shambles" is it? That's an entirely different word with a different etymology.

My first thought was a pillow. Second was something fake.

@Gatelodge

Well, I assume the pillow sham is a ‘sham’ because it’s a sort of decorative false front that hides the actual pillow-case.

Indeed:

“ The term "pillow sham" means a pillow with a "false front", stemming from the notion of "a trick". In the 1700's, specially made pillowcases were made to create decorative pillows with removable covers. These "false front" pillow covers became known as pillow shams!”

Sham can also have important legal meaning, eg a scheme that is false or without substance is usually looked through/disregarded for legal purposes & considered to be sham.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Sham can also have important legal meaning, eg a scheme that is false or without substance is usually looked through/disregarded for legal purposes & considered to be sham.

This ^^

In Ireland we use it to mean friend. “What’s up sham?”

According to Urban dictionary it is also used in Rep. Of Ireland to mean chav.

Pillow sham up here in Scotland so it is most definitely used in English language!!

I thought it was short for shamble, which means shit show, screw up, unorganised kind of thing.

Father Ted knew what it meant at least:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=K1z_PwtLDmQ

Fake/con.

Fake.
As in Sham-poo

Was this on IQ before? I have heard it elsewhere but not sure where.

*QI

Of course, 'a pretence'.

Oh how I remember the childhood hilarity when I learnt this word, around age 8, about 'shampoo'!!

It is not short for shambles and does not mean disorganised.

This is a classic example of MNers not RTFT and we have endless people coming on to say, po-faced, "It means a scam. How can you not know that?".

I love the fact that this was a year 1 student! I was imagining it coming up in a GCSE literature lesson.

It is classic case of there being value in multiple MNetters answering the OP's question directly, so that she gets a sense of how common or otherwise this knowledge is and gains insight into different useages.

Decorative pillow

Never heard of a ‘sham marriage’?

Yes. It's used more in the US than here these days.

I find quite a lot of US terminology isn't as well known in the UK as I'd have assumed.

I mean, the pillow version. Most Brits will understand sham as in fake, but not of the pillow.