The online world breeds some very strange bits of language, and none are stranger than the word ‘catfishing’. This names the practice of adopting a false identity online. The Oxford says ‘catfishing’ means: ‘a person who deceives by means of a fictional or assumed online persona, esp. with the intent to lure someone into a relationship’. So, ‘catfishing’ seems to happen mainly on dating websites. But why ‘catfishing’? What has this freshwater fish got to do with romantic deception? The name seems to come from the title of the 2010 documentary film Catfish, which concerns this kind of con game. Within the documentary, the husband of a woman who has been adopting a fictional online persona refers to her as a ‘catfish’ (in this case with positive connotations). Which still leaves us with the question – why? It appears to come from a common myth that a catfish would be placed in a tub of cod being transported over distance on the belief that the presence of the catfish would keep the highly marketable cod lively and fresh on their journey. Not true, but widely believed. And I suppose adopting a false persona online will keep your victim dangling in expectation – lively and ready to be ripped off. Hence, ‘catfishing’.