The chatterbox bird, belonging to the Icteridae family
A charlatan is an individual who talks excessively , usually without his words having substance or content . The term has its etymological root in the Italian word ciarlatano . On the other hand, it also refers to a bird from the thrush family.
Shades of meaning
There are different nuances in the use of the notion of charlatan. Someone who is talkative and talkative , to mention one possibility, can be mentioned as a charlatan: “The teacher says that my son is very talkative.” In this case, there is not a very negative connotation, but rather the adjective refers to a personality characteristic .
On other occasions, a charlatan is defined as someone who, by talking so much, is indiscreet : “Don't tell Mario anything, he is a charlatan and he will leave you exposed.” Charlatan, on the other hand, may be the one who tends to talk about matters that he does not know or that he exaggerates : “Once again, Uncle Jorge's charlatan is giving his theories about national politics…” .
The most negative meaning of charlatan, meanwhile, is linked to the trickster or swindler . The charlatan constructs a speech full of lies and inaccuracies to achieve a sale or other type of operation. These charlatans use persuasion to convince their interlocutor of something: “The charlatan from the real estate agency assured me that the house was impeccable but, after renting it, I realized all the problems that the construction has.”
As we can see, as with other words in our language, "charlatan" can be a child who talks a lot but does no harm to anyone, but also an unscrupulous businessman who does not hesitate to defraud or ruin someone financially. Something similar can be seen with words like liar, manipulator and even scammer . When we refer to loved ones or young children, we often use exaggerated terms to point out certain attitudes of theirs that emulate those of adults, although with considerably less impact .
Some examples
To better understand the term, let's see it in context: "Yesterday I met with a potential investor but he seemed like a charlatan to me," "In the end the mechanic turned out to be a charlatan since he never managed to solve the problem with my car," "When will you come to see me? You have already suspended the visit three times. You are a charlatan!” .
Throughout these three sentences we can see different situations in which the nuance of the term usually points to the ill will of someone who deceives another with their words, although the potential results are of different magnitudes . Let's start with the first: the issuer comments that he met with a businessman interested in investing, but after having met him he believes that he is not trustworthy, that he is a charlatan.
A charlatan can be a swindler, who deceives through promises.
In this case, the consequences of doing business with him can be very serious, since they could put the economic stability of your company at risk. A charlatan in this area should be avoided by all possible means. Let's move on to the example of the car mechanic: most of us trust supposed experts from all fields to solve our problems, from health to mechanics; If they fail us or if they promise us results that never arrive, we lose money and time. In the case of a vehicle, we could even put our lives at risk.
The last example is more subjective, especially because in this case we do not have the necessary context to judge the interlocutor. The sender accuses him of being a "charlatan" for not having visited him in a long time. In addition, he tells him that he knows that he canceled the visit on three occasions. Here we are not facing economic or material damage, but rather an emotional one, which is why the impact can be even greater. Perhaps the person who did not keep his promises has valid reasons, but the important thing is that he did not make an effort to give them to the affected party.