The shell game (also known as Thimblerig, Three shells and a pea, the old army game) is portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud. In confidence trick slang, this swindle is referred to as a short-con because it is quick and easy to pull off.
Famous quotes containing the words shell and/or game:
“Billy: You dropped some shell in there.
Ted: It’s all right. Makes it crunchier that way. You like French toast crunchy, don’t you?”
—Robert Benton (b. 1932)
“Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)