cunning fox
The adjective, cunning, has become more popular. Originally, the word meant cunning, deceitful, or evasive. Now, it also means attractive. The noun, cunning, is based on the original adjective to mean achievement by trickery (an ability). Why was the original adjective set to a fox?
The noun, fox, describes a small-statured wild canine with distinctive features (pointed nose, bushy tail). Their color varies: red, gray, tan, black, white, and usually their fur is a mix of two or more of those colors. People tend to remember the red coat. Interestingly, just as the adjective, cunning, evolved to have a different meaning, the noun, fox, also evolved to mean an attractive human female. In other words, if I were to say, “She it is a fox,” most of you will know what I mean. The verb, fox, means to deceive. That completes a circle. You can say, “The fox deceived you,” and that would mean that the attractive woman deceived you.
A fox (the wild animal), being small in size, can be defeated by a larger carnivore, such as a wolf. A fox can run a short distance, but can be outrun by a cougar. He can’t climb a tree. It can run into an underground burrow and can dig, but its legs are not suitable for digging and escaping from danger. It probably has to reason to get to safety and has to outwit its prey in order to eat. I have personally seen a rabbit outwit a fox. The rabbit went back on its own trail, repeatedly, which confused the fox (it picked up its own scent mixed with the rabbit’s scent).
People use deception (cunning) as a skill, mainly in competitive business practices. It is often people who perceive themselves to be disadvantaged who use it. They investigate their business environment to find key details and keep those details secret as they plan how to use them for a personal victory that achieves a company goal. This practice walks a line. The person who does this may be a hero for a day, and the company may actually benefit, but if the person does it repeatedly, he marks himself as a loner, a maverick (not a team player). Many marketers and salespeople use the tactic, get the win, and then move on to another job.
In the Christian Bible, you will find many passages that use the word cunning. The serpent (Satan disguised as a serpent in the Garden of Eden) is described as cunning, because he tricked Eve into believing that God’s word was not true. God had told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the “tree of knowledge” or “you will die.” Satan told Eve, “You will certainly not die if you eat of it.” There is some debate, but I think “dying” meant that the one who eats would turn away from God. It was humanity’s act (through Adam and Eve) of disobeying God that set us all on a path that leads us away from God. Satan did worse by lying about what God said, so he set himself on a path away from God (he had been loved by God).
Search the web for Ezekiel 13:4 and Luke 13:32. The first passage is found in the Old Testament of the Bible, the time of the prophets. The second passage is in the New Testament, a quote from Jesus, the Christ, of whom the prophets spoke. The passage was written by Luke, who accompanied the Apostle Paul on his missions to grow the Christian Church. In both passages, the fox appears to be deceitful.