If Shamima Begum Managed To Smuggle...
ChatterBank22 mins ago
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.'Artful', though more modern, went through much the same process. It did not take on its "Artful Dodger" sort of connotation until the 18th century. 'Cunning', too, just meant 'knowing' or 'knowledge' to start with.
So, a beautifully-crafted, highly-decorated Anglo-Saxon sword, say, should never be dismissed as an artistic 'con' and could easily be described as 'crafty' or 'artful', since it existed before these words took on their pejorative meanings. On the other hand, I tend to agree with Sft that much moderrn art is precisely that...a con. A soiled and tatty bed is art? Not in my book, I'm afraid.