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by bagger on March 30th, 2007

bagger

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Where did the expression play possum come from? playing possum

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Answers. 2 helpful answers below.

  • by LOLCAT on March 30th, 2007

    LOLCAT

    Sometimes when opossums are in danger, they will curl up and appear to be dead. They do this so they their predator will leave them alone. Playing opossum means that someone is acting dead.

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  • by Anonymous on March 30th, 2007

    Anonymous

    Possums usually run away when you see them, and they do play around a lot (which is annoying when it is on your roof and you are trying to sleep)...
    but to answer your question...
    It apparently means to play dead (which is curious considering the nature of possums)... the origins of this phrase are unclear (I did a number of searches of phrase origin and word origin web-sites and nothing turned up).

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