These words refer to something that is false or worthless, particularly when it is passed off as being genuine or valuable. Spurious , the most general of these words, derives ultimately from a Latin word for bastard. It is harshly condemnatory in tone, whether or not an attempt to deceive is implied. It rarely now refer to illegitimacy: a spurious heir. More often it refers to something that has been mistaken for the real item: spurious paintings attributed to old masters. The word generally leaves no doubt that deception is involved: a political candidate who made spurious promises in order to get elected. But when the word applies to reason or logic, a deliberate attempt to mislead need not necessarily be involved: False assumptions lead to spurious conclusions; an attempt to demonstrate that his opponent’s argument was spurious in every detail.

Counterfeit and forged are exclusively focused on deliberate attempts to deceive or defraud. Most typically, counterfeit pertains to false money, forged to false signatures, as on a cheque: counterfeit ten-dollar notes; a forged endorsement on the traveller’s cheque. Both words can apply also to anything that is made to pass for something authentic or of value: a counterfeit painting; forged passports. Usually, forged retains some implication of a false signature that seems to make good a product or document, but counterfeit applies more widely to anything insincere: an attempt to deceive the public with their counterfeit optimism over the results of the government action; the counterfeit concern that she lavished on her husband in public.

Shoddy can still occasionally refer to a fabric of reclaimed wool. By extension, it now refers universally to anything that is inferior in materials or construction: shoddy housing developments destined to become the slums of the future. The word can point also to any vulgar or pretentious imitation or anything cheap that purports to be of superior quality: shoddy nightclubs whose meretricious glitter is designed to trap unwary tourists. It refers also to base behaviour or meanness of character: No woman deserves that sort of shoddy treatment. Sometimes the stress of the word is on whatever is unsavoury, low-grade or of dubious reputation: the tramp’s shoddy clothes; the shoddy quarter of town; a shoddy trickster.

Brummy , a shortened form of brummagem , which in turn is a vulgar form of Birmingham , is an informal word for counterfeit . It has the special sense of a counterfeit coin but applies widely to objects ?particularly of metal ?that are cheap imitations: I bought some brummy horse brasses, which were just like the real thing. The word is used loosely for anything cheap, false or sham, in which sense it is very similar to shoddy . Snide also has the basic notion of counterfeit but, while associated with spurious currency, it seems to have been used mainly in the sense of counterfeit jewellery. Like brummy , it is now used in a more general way for shoddy , but, unlike brummy , it can apply to underhand or mean behaviour: Such a snide character that no one trusted him; making snide remarks.

Apocryphal is the most restricted of these words in that it always applies to accounts of the past whose truth or accuracy cannot be determined. In reference to disputed theological documents, the implication is that such works have been rejected from the accepted or official cannon: the apocryphal sayings of Jesus that are excluded from the New Testament. Outside this context, the word can refer to what is legendary or unprovable: an apocryphal story about Lincoln as a young boy. Here, the word can refer to any body of myth and anecdote that grows up spontaneously around an object of reverence or curiosity: apocryphal feats attributed to Ned Kelly.