[Vocabulary] prank or trick

[jennlse]

Is there any difference when we use the word prank or trick? Thanks.

 

[LeUyenHoc]

"trick" seems more negative than "prank". Something likes you may trick others to gain a profit, but you can use a prank, possibly a silly trick, to surprise your friends.

 

[phrasemix]

jennlse,
There are some situations where these can be used interchangeably:

play a prank on someone
play a trick on someone
​

These are mostly the same in meaning.

However, "trick" has a much wider meaning than "prank". In fact, you can think of a "prank" as just one kind of "trick" - it's the kind where you're doing something to surprise or scare the person to be funny. As LeUyenHoc said, "tricking" someone can mean a wider range of things, including scamming someone out of their money, lying to someone, etc.

 

[Searching for language]

A "trick" is also another word for something done via slight of hand like with a deck of cards.

A "trick" can also be something quite positive, as in for example if you are explaining a difficult manoeuver such as parallel parking on a busy street............ "The trick here is, that you have to learn to be quick when there is a little break in the traffic flow."

I am not a teacher.