For example, if you said that someone had been fooled by something, would they take offense and think you’re calling them a fool or foolish?

What if you say someone’s been “played for a fool”?

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    8 months ago

    I’d say you’re more likely to get a positive response if you use words like “deceived” or “conned” or “lied to” which place the fault on the deceiver.

    “Fooled” isn’t offensive per se; “chumped” is worse. But if I was wanting to convince someone that they had been maliciously given false information, I’d use language that doesn’t raise hackles by implicitly blaming them for being deceived.

    Edit: “Played for a fool” is more offensive IMO, because now you’re pointing out that the victim has some exploitable flaw which allowed the deceiver to make a fool of them.

    Edit again: Sorry for the double post. Something seems to be a little weird with my app.