To behave deceptively; to misrepresent oneself deliberately. The term comes from maritime piracy, rampant from ancient times until about 1825 in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters and still existing in parts of the Pacific. In order to deceive their prey, pirates would run a “friendly flag”—that is, “false colors”—to lure their victims close enough so that they could easily be captured. The term began to be used figuratively in the late seventeenth century. Robert Louis Stevenson used it in St. Ives (1897): “I had so much wisdom as to sail under false colours in this foolish jaunt of mine.”