Kayfabe
Etymology
Kayfabe is professional wrestling’s term for treating scripted rivalries and outcomes as authentic, both in and out of the ring. Its exact origin is disputed; a common explanation traces it to carnival slang, possibly a pig-latin-style coding of "fake" or "be fake," though this is uncertain. The word has migrated far beyond wrestling to describe any knowing collective illusion.
noun · /KAY-fayb/
The shared pretense that something staged is real, maintained by everyone involved as if it were genuine.
What it names
It gives a precise handle for the many public performances — political feuds, brand rivalries, reality TV — where the audience half-knows it’s scripted and plays along anyway.
Example
The two founders’ public feud was pure kayfabe — they golf together, but the rivalry sells subscriptions.
Related idea
Kayfabe is a mutual, knowing pretense the audience is in on; a con depends on the mark not knowing, which is what makes kayfabe a performance rather than fraud.