Ponzi Scheme
In light of the recent $50 Billion Ponzi scheme by Bernard Madoff, here is the origin of the phrase.
Oh.. by the way, I have actually figured out a way for you to end up with a million dollars over night!
First off, you take 2 million dollars, then…
Capman911 on 
muggins on 
Here is a write up on this over on msnbc.msn
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28387498
$50 thousand millions or 50 million millions of dollars.
wall street bail out equals $200 Billions in Capital.
hence if wall street was bailed out he can also apply for a Bernard Madoff bail out, $50 Billions is one fourth of $200 Bn. How can he ever pay that back?
Will it qualify as a Guinness book of record entry?
Its all about monopoly. It looks like they all play monopoly online.
Oh it is probably a small error
the deal was $700 billion bail out for wall street.
hence a small Madoff bail out would be peanuts.
Please why do the Americans use a thousand million for a billion.
Is the wall street bail out an even larger Ponzi Scheme?
Has there been any Ponzi Scheme in Russia ?
The BIGGEST Ponzi scheme ever implemented is. . .
SOCIAL SECURITY !!
Congress is fooling us all. They just can’t set aside the money collected for redistribution under social security. Instead, the skim off the top and squander it on all kinds of illegal and unauthorized purposes, especially the buying of votes for their re-election!
“We all agree that your theory is crazy, but is it crazy enough?” – Niels Bohr 1885-1962
Not a chance…
Did they call him ” The Ponz “!
I was going to look this up on Wikipedia, however you are so much more entertaining. The problem is that the clip never plays. It just sits there loading forever. I may not have the fastest connection. But I’m not on dial up either. And where are the Hot Cards?
I for one don’t like the HD version being embedded on the website instead of HQ.
I’ve never been ” Ponzi-ed”, but people have been successful, from time to time, in separating me from my money, starting in childhood when I sent in 5 bubblegum comics and $1.25 for Xray glasses. They sent me nothing, nada. The most embarrassing would be the time I sent my hard earned money for the Flobee haircut gadget. I was going to save money bypassing the barber. It pulled hairs out of my scalp. Ouch ! (Ouch is an interesting word.)
Hi Marina,
I think all your students are to embaressed to admit to being scamed out of there money.
Seems our Government is taking our tax money we pay into Social Security and paying others. Paying politicians to enjoy the good life.
This Ponzi will some day come tumbling down.
Nice on the Ponzi scheme; How about Marijuana? What ere the roots of this word? Thanks for all your work! I’ve had some latin and greek, but am stumped, but I think you should investigate!
In the mid-thirties, two patents were granted, one for a method of chemically “rhetting” hemp, so that hemp-based paper was cheaper to make than wood-pulp paper, the other for a hempseed-oil based diesel fuel. In order to combat these competitors against petroleum-based fuels and woodpulp-based paper, the oil companies and the Hearst newspaper and logging companies started propagandizing to make hemp illegal. As part of this process, the Hearst newspapers began demonizing hemp by claiming there was a variant strain, cannabis sativa, that would make users insane and violent. The stories claimed that these users were blacks and Mexicans, utilizing the tendency toward racial prejudice to promote their cause. They made up a new name for hemp, calling it “marihuana” or “marijuana.”
canvas
Quote
“Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called ‘Ego’.” – Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900
Ok I signed up a new account just to request this word, but I would really like it if you analyzed the word “1337″
Or the word “D’OH”
Oh and how did the word “Gay” come about to mean homosexual?
it would be really cool if you could tell me were the word vindictive comes from!
Thanks everyone for the comments and ratings on my word request. I think I will have to do a christmas video to you all. I haven’t been here long but I really enjoy it here and I could never leave (unless I am stripped of my border
) 
She had better.. Remember
Marina knows best!
Hi Marina, I was wondering where did the word Devil’s food cake come from & why is the word Devil in there? thanks Samuels3d.
Interesting question!
Where did the phrase “break a leg” come from. I know it is because “good luck” evokes superstitious beliefs in actors, but why.
Since it is Christmas…….what does “Ba Humbug” mean
Thank You,
SketchingLight
Marina wrote an article for askmen.com addressing popular word myth origins. One of them is the phrase “break a leg.” You can read the explanation here.
And the video is here.
You can see all of Marina’s previous lessons by clicking on “Words/Lessons” on the menu bar at the top of each HFW page. Enjoy.
Dear Marina
Would you please investigate the origin of the word “smorgasbord”?
I wish you a merry x-mas time with lots of presents, nice x-mas dinner and simply a great time wherever you are.
Love
Franconian
If one does not count the government, banks, insurance companies, automobile manufactures and the medical community, I haven’t been scammed. This is due in no small part to the fact that I have the one thing money can not buy. Poverty.
In some ways poverty is a pseudo-luxury… nobody is jealous, nobody can take what you don’t have, etc…
Hello Marina. I have only recently become a fan of your lessons, but I already have a word request. Where does the word flippant come from and how is it best used?
An excellent question to ask a Little Mermaid.
Is this sufficiently flippant for you?
Thanks for the mammary
hey i was wondering of the word banzai i know it means kill in japanese but whats the origin great vid by the way
Yeah! and M still owes us an explanation about what happened to the bonzai on the night stand. {Somebody is standing patiently, arms crossed, foot tapping. }
The word can be found spelled bonzai on the ‘net, but almost all of the dictionaries spell it bonsai, meaning tray planting. The war cry banzai, meaning 10,000 years, is spelled differently.
Never been taken on one of those schemes. I have looked a couple of times, though. Fortunately, materialism is not one of my demons.
Yes, that is very fortunate!
hey Marina, are you going to be more of a regular on Fox News in the future? i think you would be awsome! most popular ‘Fox News contributer’ ever!!!
Marina this was in our today’s paper and here’s an article on the Ponzi Scheme. Makes you think of Dejavu.
http://i39.tinypic.com/20apizl.jpg
Not that I care but has “celebrity” slut bitch Paris Hilton, sorry. I mean Perez Hilton ( ha ha he copied her name and you can describe them exactly the same… They must be the same person)
Has Perez Hilton been “algorythmically demoted” from youtube. He has no honours on his channel…
He left YouTube and has not posted a video there for about a year. He was a victim of posting copyrighted material and they deleted his account and it pissed him off.
How do you know all this stuff?
I came to this website and I didn’t know much at all, 6 months later. I have been upscaling my videos learning resolutions editing html and editing CSS! All from you!!
Well I guess it makes sense what with you being about…. Hmm.. What was it again? About 266 yers old?
Yeah, I just recently sent a friend invite to this attractive talkshow guru, Ysabella Brave, right after she posted her last video. She said something like YouTube sent her a warning about her use of background music or something. She said she was willing to make changes, but YouTube suspended her account anyway.
And yet afterwards, she somehow accepted my friend invitation, which I’m not sure what that is good for anymore.
hey umm i have bein wondering this ever since the say uncle vid what is the origin of the word wedgie and what is a wedgie
now i kno what “sewsew”, (a creole term) really means.. nope never happened to me and PLEASE do the word ignorent
Ignorent huh?
And you come back with this one again today? I reckon you’re rilin’ me up somethin’ fierce Elahie. You are quite a sexy sweetpie indeed. I don’t think you need a definition of the word “ignorent” at all.
That word reminded of this song.
Speaking of scams, the ‘Big 3 bailout’ is a horrible scam, and it IS going to cost us big.
For better or worse, our economy is based on free enterprise. You are free to start a business, and if you fill a need in the marketplace, and if you do business honestly, there is a good chance ( but not a guarantee ) that you will succeed. If you succeed the profits are yours.
You risk capital; it may be yours or you can get others to invest. Investors will expect to share in any profits.
For years the auto industry has telling consumers what they want and need, and their arrogance has been building.
Arguments will be made about American workers and unionization, but the boys at the top made the decisions, THEORETICALLY representing the shareholders ( and in my humble opinion thay have not been representing their shareholders well ).
They screwed up. They actually screwed up ROYALLY. In a true free enterprise system they would be allowed to fail, and someone else would step in to try to do a better job of filling the needs of consumers.
What is about to happen, unfortunately ( because its with OUR money; government money came from taxes – it is OUR money ), is we will be subsidizing a business model that demonstrably failed.
I’m not saying I could do the job, but we don’t know that I couldn’t do better. We also know that the boards at the big three DID fail. But we are going to give them a second ( for Chrysler, a third ) chance.
Our government SHOULD be providing a level playing field for all businesses; by subsidizing those who failed they are encouraging FURTHER failure. Remember where you heard it first.
I agree Orion I agree.
The bank bailout is a bigger scam! $700 billion! Damn thing has been deemed a complete failure. A blank check?!?? I know people around me that are or have lost their homes. I beginning to think the whole thing was just a way to put a monkey wrench into the Democrat administration to make them look bad so the Republican party has a chance to get back into office next term.
As for the big 3. Screw them! Give the money to the people to get retrained for new jobs. I experienced a failed logging industry in Grays Harbor County. Moneys where put into retraining workers and creating new businesses. It was a big success. New internet base business were started. Now I hear that there is a new bio-diesel plant going on line soon that will be one of the largest BD plant in the country.
I read in today’s paper that Bush is considering making the big 3 do a bankruptcy instead of bailing them out. He says he wants to try and clean up some of the mess before Obama takes over.
I HOPE you heard right ( but I’d bet money against it – a lame duck doing something useful? He is probably busy doing pardons ).
‘The bank bailout is a bigger scam’ – no argument; but its a done deal. There is still a ( small ) chance to stop the Big 3.
The bank bailout was the same thing; people who demonstrated a failure are BEING given a second chance to screw it up again. Credit has been given to people who ( apparently ) couldn’t afford to pay the loan back. Houses bought in an inflated market have had their values corrected and people with NO equity are ( correctly ) realizing it is cheaper to walk away than to pay the loan. Its a do-over. In the old days credit screening was supposed to catch that.
Others were ‘guided’ to adjustable loans that ( big shock ) ‘adjusted’ in the bank’s favor ( I got an adjustable loan years ago and felt the ‘adjustment’ up close and personnal. Like now, the loan changed hands several times and when I refinanced – at a fixed rate – it took awhile to figure out who to payoff for the original loan ). When the loan is made someone gets a bonus; obviously there is no penalty for anyone in the bank when the loan defaults; or else they’d screen a little better, and guide customers to something ( houses and loans ) that they can afford.
I now do business with a credit union and they are GREAT.
I sometimes feel like an idiot for paying back my mortgages and credit cards; if I refused to pay I might get bailed out. OH WELL.
What’s even worse, Captain Jack, is what you know they’ll do with that money.
Oh then we need to get them another 100 billion to make up for the short fall?
I’m certain they learned their lesson after congress chastised GM execs for coming by corporate jet – NOT !
I feel sad for the people affected by the mess your economy is in. Maybe the ones with enough insight into the “dark corners of commerce” will foresee all the absurdities and just make smart moves elsewhere…
It doesn’t seem to make sense because the phrase is short for “pushing the performance envelope.” When you graph the performance limits of something – airplane, car, person, etc – the area within the graph is called the performance envelope. As you get close to the limits, you are said to be pushing the envelope
That’s a good phrase request. I’m alway trying to push my envelopes to the post office.
I hope Marina does a lesson on that. Anyone want to 4th the request?
I’ll push it forth.
I wonder if it has to do with forcing someone to accept a bribe? hmmm?
Consider, my backing of this word request POSTED
I have to say Marina has pushed the envelope of your basic philologist.
WOW Marina that is so cool when you click on the HD button and the screen on youtube gets so big. It’s is so clear and we can see all of your radiance glowing.
This is kinda like the expression “taking from Peter to pay Paul”.
I got scammed out of $5000 when I was 16 years old from a scumbag, drooley, old fuck-fuck! Everything is “blue sky and wonderful” in this guy’s mind while he’s a creepy reprobate liar.
He’s probably now in HELL selling phony hotdogs!… and getting kicked in the nuts for eternity!
Happy Holidays everyone!
Милаяа Марина,
, will you do a lesson on the word “lecher”?
***WORD REQUEST***
Pursuant to “lemondeenmains” comment under “Hypocrite”
Wasn’t Ponzi Opie’s friend on ‘Happy Days’ ?
It was Potsie!
or Fonzie
It was Potsie, that’s is who I had in mind
His friend was Opie!
Sounds like all of you have two different shows mixed together.
Opie was on Andy of Mayberry or Andy Griffith Show, and Richie was on Happy Days with Fonzy and Potsie. Maybe Fonzi’s girlfriend Pinky Tuscadero call him Ponzi when they were doing the ChaCha. 
Don’t forget about the following urban myth:
The reason that the show “Joanie Loves Chachi” was popular in Korea, was because ‘chachi’ was supposedly Korean for ‘penis’
I know its not true, but it’s funny to hear nonetheless
Sounds like the old “pater-father” consonant swap.
I guess we are all scammed every day by the governments of our countries. Wanting more money in taxes. They can’t live within their means like we do, if you run short on money you just tighten your belt until your financial crises passes, but the governments can always scam us into giving them more money. Most of it is taxation without representation. They pass laws that we can’t vote on to raise our taxes or annex our homes into a city without our approval. Now in NC, we hear the counties want to tax your home if you sell it and if a person buys it. Before it was just if a person bought it. The money from the sale of your home if it was reinvested into another home was not taxed. This tax was voted down 23 times by the populace of the state so all of the county governments want the state legislatures to pass a law so we can’t vote on items like this anymore. Yes we are being scammed every day in one way or another. We don’t have anymore tea to dump into a bay or river so what can the masses do?
Attack the armory, get the guns & powder
Capman911 replied:
I agree Che, lets keep our powder dry and full speed ahead.
I like the name NBC Nightly News put to it: The Fleecing Of America
Capman911 Replied:
I didn’t watch that episode. I wished I had. Sounds about right.
When I worked on the Tall Ship Lady Washington, we did a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. I was on the long boat doing an attack on the ship. I got a bit too close to the main canon and about blew my head off. My face has black power stains. Oh what great fun to reenact the Boston Tea Party on a real Tall Ship.
Capman, I think things will change when Obama’s administration takes over. The word in the grape vine is some tyrants are looking for the exits.
There is a mad dash of applications to buy land to drill oil before Obama takes office. I think there is a good chance for real change to happen. I really think the US is about ready to be rebooted (computer term). As really bad as this recession is, I think this is one of the best things to happen to the US. 
Im also finding out the tricks of the great depression are working even todays modern world. Shoe repair stores are doing so good they are hiring. 
I been preaching taxation without representation for years and people justify to me that it is being represented. Talk about mass delusions.
I feel very confident that really good times are ahead here in the US. This is coming from a guy that has one foot out the door in leaving the US.
I know how you feel about leaving Cap. I have thought about moving to mountains and just living off the land or finding an island to live on. But that is the dreams of an old man. Should have done it when I was younger, but I wouldn’t have the family or the great friends that I have today. So I hope you are right and things will turn around, but we could be living in a third world county somewhere in worst shape than we are in. I believe no matter how much we complain there is someone worse off than us. So we keep hanging on to our hopes and maybe things will get better.
I had thought of doing the same thing but the feds can remove you from those lands and even tax you. There is a bunch of permits to fill out. Just a pain in the butt. That why I went the sailboat route. Worst case I just pull the lines (or weigh the anchor) and go anywhere on the planet I want. It’s like living in a motor home but cheaper. Right now there is like 4 inches of snow on my sailboat and Im snug as a bug in a warm 71º degrees.
Interestingly enough is many retired people start boating as part of their retirement plan. Right now is a good time to buy a yacht. It’s a buyers market now.
Yeah I think I’m right about better things coming ahead. In my former career; I had to be very sensitive about market changes to make the right decisions on marketing. I was writing a book about the fall of the next great empire. Well now that the recession is in full swing I have abandon this book. It collapsed faster than I predicted. As for the third world countries, I assume it’s business as usual.
Well some third world countries are doing much better now . Im shocked how the Philippines have changed over the years. I remember walking on muddy streets and now there are people with cellphones that have video conferencing that is not available here in the US yet. South Korea had the fastest consumer level fiber optic internet service in the world. For about $40 a month you could get 50 mb down and 30 mb up. We are just now getting this kind of service here in Washington state.
Ahh screw it! All this updating bullshit sucks when I have no idea what it is for or even how to use it!
Don’t worry about your gravatar in the recent comments thing on the right… I just added that and maybe it takes forever for it to update. Your gravatar looks great here in the comments!
Thanks, I sometimes get frustrated when I don’t have a clue with some of this computer stuff.
Hi Marina – I live in Chicago and there is a lot of talk about our Governor and impeachment. Impeachment strikes me as a unique word, different from prosecute and not exactly the same as removal from office. What is the origins of the word and who can be official impeached versus just being removed from an office?
Okay I don’t know any computer technical babble shit. Or what a cache memory is and how I could clear it. This isn’t even my computer.
I thought my new gravatar would just upload (by itself, as it should) in the Recent Comments overnight, but it is still on default on the right. It just looks odd and I don’t like it.
taz, I’m seeing a snowman in a red coat and a black hat beside your name.
Tell the class which browser you’re using and someone is sure to give you the necessary instructions.
That is just Composite Santa Claus from Robot Chicken’s Dragonball Z Christmas Special on [adult swim] of the
CARTOON NETWORK.It will fix it’s self in time. If you need more help just post what browser your running and is it a Macintosh or Windows computer. You can also leave me a message on the contact page if you want .
From Capman911:
Jack I think he is using a public or school library computer. So I don’t know how much cleaning or the cache he can do on it. I have never uses one at a library so I don’t know how much of the tool bar he has access to.
If anyone is using a public computer and there is no possibility of clearing the cache and history, don’t EVER put in any private data or carry out any on line purchases.
The public libraries around me have a screen menu that you just click to clear all personal data.
If he is lucky someone else might have already done it for him. Also he can talk to the attendant to teach him how clear out all personal data and cache.
Other than a few donkey schmucks on eBay, I’ve done pretty good.
Back in the army, I made loans to a guy that went up to $120. I only had a promisery note for the first $20. When we both were standing before HIS First Sergeant, that guy denied the rest of the money he owed me. He also been known around the barracks, by taking advantage of and stealing from other soldiers.
One time he stole my ATM card, while I was sorting through bank reciepts in my room. (He was with me one time, when I withdrew cash. But I was smart enogh to make it look as if I were punching in different numbers.) My bank said there were 3 attempts with my PIN number, but I was lucky he got it all wrong. My bank didn’t know who it was that did it, because they couldn’t afford to keep their video cameras running 24/7.
Anyway, that guy ended up going AWOL and I never saw the $120 he owed me ever again.
hi Mariiiiiiina.
Where does “pushing the envelope” come from? English has so many odd phrases that doesn’t make sense.
Bienvenido, danystorm.
He oido que aunque la Argentian sea pais hispanico, hay muchos inmigrantes de Italia tambien. No he oido de “Lunfardo”, pero aqui se habla “espangles” (”parkear el carro”, por ejemplo.)
He leido que tambien hablan gales en Chubut (Trelew, Gaiman, Rawson, Puerto Madryn, Esquel, Trevelin, etc.)
No se “flamboyant” en espanol pero tal vez Marina puede explicar.
Evan
Marina can you do the word philanthropy for me thank you?
Here’s a nice one about a single angry cat and a bunch of elephants. Result: Very bad lacerations and 3 finger lost.
You are a great teacher and your enthusiasm is contagious.
I would like to request the origin of the phrase “having a wild hair in one’s ass”. It seems to be a reference to initiative; a good idea or something like it. How did that start?
Thanks,
NanoSongs
Hi Marina! Could you tell me the origin of the word thrash, like in “thrash metal”, and if it’s origin has any relation with the word trash…Thanks!!!
Thrash metal only relates to trash if you listen to it.
Dear совершенная Marina, I invest and bank carefully, so I have not been scammed, so far.
Is it a scam when a pretty young woman acts nice to you so that you buy meals for her, drive her to movies, concerts, and other shows? Then, she might get you to go shopping where you buy her presents of clothing, perfume, chocolates and jewelry?
(I guess I need to find out whether she’s acting or not.)
Your dear student, seesixcm6
I would like to request this word. esophagogastroduodenoscopy. thank you.
In our little city, we had a guy, Ian Thow leave the country after it was discovered he’d ripped off investors… even then some of the one’s that he’d ripped off sent him money for rent & such… hmmm.
Have you ever wondered where the term Uncle Sam came from? An who decided that this mythical figure would represent the United States?
Teacher!
When we see you like this, all wrapped up inside this fancy flashy red dress like a sexy Santa Claus, our excitation for the knowledge you bring us every day is as erected as a pyramid, stark fruit of a man’s desire for power. Henceforth, we humbly and respectfully request that you remove this troubling red dress at once and that you put back your lovely pigtails, which are quite an obvious sign of your commanding authority!
This is a test
.
[a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRxrCBvt7TM&feature=related]It’s only a test[/a]
Wow….I feel a little like I’ve been re-uneducated!
Homework
One day I received a letter in the mail that told me I had won the Spanish lottery! If I had sent them my account number they would’ve transfered the lottery money into my account! WOW! 
Threw that letter in the trash 
I’ve never been involved with a money scam. I do my banking with a small town bank and they seem to be very honest!
Hard work is the key to success; anyone trying to ‘get rich quick’ is probably going to end up dissappointed quicker.
There is a difference to a pyramid and a ponzi scheme; but the similarities are more striking.
There is nothing wrong with investing, but expectations should be reasonable or else dissappointment is inevitable. Research is work; it WILL be worth the effort. Investing without research is gambling.
Its a damn shame the big CEOs seem to have forgotten what their job is supposed to be: to look out for the interests of the shareholders. Did I mention you should do some research?
You should not presume guilt, but never make the mistake of feeling sorry for the SOB’s who get caught; feel sorry for the folks who got taken, and learn from their mistakes.
Marina, how have you given yourself your own thumbnail?
http://uk.youtube.com/browse?s=mphd&c=0&l=&b=0
Certain partners are allowed to pick their own thumbnail.. a courtesy that will be removed if the thumbnail is not representative of the video.
They can’t allow everyone to do that as it will be (note how I said WILL BE) abused.
Have you seen my video request for (sic) ?? I just got the best thumbnail on that i said ” not sic as in sick * blaaaaahhhhh* “then when I said blaaaaah it turned up as the thumbnail… Bit of good timing there…
The hd audio on this is fine.
Just posted my sic video as a response to this ..
LOL! Sick…
(sic = spelling is correct)
I once had a colleague who used to drive a Ford Transit van.
One morning, after a heavy week-end, he failed to turn up for work because, he said, he couldn’t get the van started.
He just sent a telegram to the office which said,
“Sick Transit, Glorious Monday.”
And a fellow who tells bilingual puns is a cunning linguist!
Breakfast Club Music
The folks who went to this concert certainly got their money’s worth.
There’s no shortage of people in the world who just want to get their grubby hands on your money. What is sad is when you get scammed for just trying to help someone out. I gave food and shelter to a Panamanian family in need and got ripped off and had many things stolen from my house as thanks. They left me penniless, destitute and ruined my life. Some thanks! These people are the real criminals because they steal your faith in people.
Read more – onelifetosave.org
you can’t trust anyone nowadays
Marina forgotten to tie her hair ?
HD loads so slow ==
WHOA WHEN DID HD GET SO BIG!!
Yesterday afternoon. Great isn’t it? No point in having HD and looking at a postage stamp.
I went on my channel and saw there was a widescreen vid.. I thought I had been accepted for partnership. lol
I was struck with a word that I don’t even know where it came from even though it is very common. How about telling us students where the interjection “Wow!” came from? I find myself saying it a lot when I watch your videos lol! Thanks Marina.
In that case it stands for “What a Woman!”
Shot myself in the foot, there 
)
(Mis-spelling of Waw.
In my youth, I knew a sexy Welsh babe named Gwawr (Welsh for “Dawn”.) I told her she was “Gr” with a “waw” in the middle.
Once again, a great video!
But I also have a word request: “germane” (as “adequate” or “relevant”). I recently stumbled over that word and being from Germany, I wondered if there is a connection between those words. Thanks!
I have to admit that I’ve been ripped off on many occasions, but it was always done “legally”.
I’ve been scammed by a trade union which took my subscriptions and refused to represent me because I was a member of a minority in a disagreement with a majority. Justice wasn’t a consideration.
I’ve been robbed by employers who have benefited from my efforts but refused to pay me overtime or reasonable expenses.
One employer even reduced my salary in return for guaranteeing me a payout in the event that I lost my pilots licence on medical grounds. When exactly that happened, they made me redundant before the authorities finally made up their minds that I could not get the licence back again, and tried to say that my illness started after I left their employment.
Friends of mine working for another company lost their pension funds when the company decided that there was more than enough to cover likely payouts and used the money for other purposes.
The biggest rip-off that everyone gets scammed by is the insurance industry, which takes your premiums and will use every trick and small print clause to avoid paying out for your loss. Ask Captain Jack about his boat.
(BTW there was a very funny film made about just that – “The man who sued God”)
And what about the banks? They will refuse to honour a cheque or regular payment because it will make you overdrawn by one penny on the day before your regular salary is paid into the account, and then they will take 50 or more out of you account as a “refusal fee”.
The bastards never miss a trick.
But I have a sure fire way to double my money every time I go to the races. Anyone want to pay me obscene sums to find out what it is?
Fold the money in half and put it back in your pocket.
Well done! Have a Cee-gar.
oh never mind!
GALAXY
what is the origin of the word GALAXY
It comes from the Greek word for milk.
$10,000,000 is STILL a lot of money…at least to me…but, yes, it was a HUGE sum in the 1920s…not that it might have been worth much – check the furnace supplies in the 1920s: Keeping warm in the 1920s…
as for HW, i’ve been lucky – haven’t had my pocket picked yet…’course, they’d only find lint there…
i do have some nice Ghanian postage stamps somewhere ’round here from where i got a scammer to mail me the forged Travelers checks “she” wanted me to cash…
I would love to know the word…..
Fantasy
OH Marina! Something wrong with your RSS feeds now. Last update was ‘Skunk’. Ponszi scheme didn’t load. I restarted browser, and etc , etc. Maybe as Gorby was remodeling his office, he pulled a bit to hard and yanked one of the Christmas decorations down, which landed on your computer mouse button. The pointer just happened to be hovering over the ‘Delete RRS feed’ button. More importantly is where were you when this all happen? Grabbing a carrot out of the fridge?
Good on him really, if he didn’t get caught.
That’s funny, up above, Marina shares her secret in how to make a million dollars overnight. You start with two million dollars.
Hey Marina
I was wondering if you could investigate the word ‘Prodigy’.
My favourite band is The Prodigy but iv’e never known what Prodigy means.
Thanks Josh
You know whats ironic is the guys last name is Madoff. Sounds like he made off with $50 billion dollars. hahahahha. Mark my words. I think in the future (when the next joker does a similar stunt) his name will replace Ponzi Scheme with Madoff Scheme.
I meant to add to Leonard’s wisdom of Money ain’t honey that my complete thought on Madoff was that “But for a few who are prosecuted as token representatives of fraud” most walk and liive to re-invest. That was the complete phrase and thought – because tokenism is always the way the capitalist system changes itself. Others are busted trying to rent women’s private time leaving a money trail on-line like Spitzer who was supposed to be cleaning things up. Quel embarras!
Who swindeled him?
It almost like the taoist notion of doing battle one step forward one inch back. There is a logic to it but it may not benefit you if you do not reside at the top of the heap. Speaking of cocks, and cocktails, H.G. Wells described Napoleon Bonaparte as a “cockerell on a dung heap.” So much for ruling! Able was I ere I saw elbA.
***WORD REQUEST*** Palindrome (e.g. “Able was I ere I saw elbA.”)
She’s already did this one Evan
http://www.hotforwords.com/2007/12/25/racecar/#comments
Oh, sorry. Sometimes the word urge hits and I just can’t control myself.
Hey Marina,
No, I have never been the victim of a serious scam. Although more interestingly, a sorority at my campus was recently scammed. The sorority had been solicited by some guy to come lecture about and demonstrate some basic self-defense techniques. He didn’t charge for the demonstration itself, but he sold a bunch of pepper spray to the girls. After he left, they found out he wasn’t affiliated with the organization he claimed he was, and that there had been reports of him scamming other groups.
But Ponzi schemes notwithstanding, I’d have to say that the biggest scam in the world is still Scientology.
Hey Marina! So I have a word request. I would like to know where the word COCKTAIL originates from. It confuses me because you can use the word ‘cocktail’ in different ways. There is shrimp cocktail – like shrimp with cocktail sauce. And then there are cocktails – like the alcoholic drinks. Both these things are very different. So where does the word cocktail come from?? Thanks so much! And I hope you have a nice Christmas!
always,
Kayla
Marina’s lesson on cock pit, with feathers to stir
The guy’s last name is pronounced “MAID-off.”
I was scammed out of money one time at a carnival when I tried to win a stuffed animal…or something. I’m sketchy on the details because it was eleven years ago. Six years ago, I was playing the slot machines on a cruise. I won a lot of money (in quarters), but a guy on the machine to my left fooled me into thinking that because he had just used the machine I was using, he was entitled to half my winnings. I naively gave him just that. Dumb move on my part.
money for nothing
And chicks for free
!
Chicks will screw you for more money than anyone else.
Good post
I miss the 80’s
Cunningham sounds like a schemer name. Someone who hams it up cunningly. Puts it on thick, that’s like a slick confidence man.
I know an accountant with the name Swindle
Marina has lover in her name and she’s into romantic stuff so maybe there is some truth to this business of names
How many people thought of THIS whe you saw this post
LOL smokey36bear! I’m still shaking Fonzie out of my hair and I’ll deal with that Richie Cunningham later!
That’s the origin of the word “gunpowder” Yet another mystery solved.
coal dust on hot ashes makes for a good scare…guns came after the use of fire crackers and making tar could blow up too
After the first scam was ratted out and exposed the very next day the chinese invented gunpowder
Yes I have, but not to that extent. Could this also be called bilking people out of money????
Or maybe a pyramid scheme???
Pyramid is where you make the people who join have to get other people to also join, each person putting in money that gets funneled to the person at the top.
I thought the pyramid scheme involved a guy at the top getting all the guys at the bottom to quarry huge blocks of limestone, transport them many miles, drag them to a construction site and stack them up. Eventually the guy at the top became the guy at the bottom. It was commonly done in Egypt, but before there were any laws against it.
What thats small white doo dad you keep moving from hand to hand in this video. Do You Russian women must have some strange customs we don’t know?
What white doodad? I looked, but couldn’t see it. Time?
Back in the army I met a former army officer who invited me to an Amway meeting. And the way another guy was explaining the whole pyramid method didn’t seem to add up to anyone elses benefit. And it looked like a failed system, so I never joined.
Amway is a valid sales system, because the core of the business is the selling of a product, which generates income. Pyramid schemes emphasize getting others to sign up, and, as there is not much to generate income, the signing fees (the primary income source) is sent upstream to enrich the original signers and there is nothing to reward the downstream. In other words, it has to be a business, not just a scheme, or most of the people involved will lose out.
Pyramid schemes are not to be confused with Ponzi schemes, named after Charles Ponzi, which are quite different. In a Ponzi scheme, all new money is paid to “Mr. Ponzi” and he distributes a portion of it to other members as “interest” or “investment income” (in a pyramid, money is paid to the next level upward in the pyramid).
Apperntly CBS News broadcast last night is quoted to saying, “The Largest Pyramid Scheme” Your going to find lots of reporters calling it a pyramid scheme. I guess intelligence is not a prerequisite to become a reporter. I can see a small TV station making this kind of mistake but big budget broadcasters? No excuse!
What is the longest word ever ?
a
Didn’t you hear? He said
What is the longest word ever ?
There was one time i asked a guy to buy something for me , and he told me to pay him first .
I never got the stuff ==
That was when i was 12 years old
Why is Ponzi there at the holiday cards part . Is the holiday cards a scam ?
“something”
Oh what, pray tell, was THAT?
lol , do you need that when you got the whole internet ?
Some bling actually , now i’ve remembered , it looked kind of stupid
***WORD REQUEST***
As long as we have an eponym (”Ponzi”) today, how about “chauvinist”?
I second that word and thought to ask for it after many great lessons….I’ve been looking at the maps and reading the second volume “The History of NAPOLeon BONAPARTE” copyright, 1855 by harper & brothers
Another eponym word request (SEQUOIA) alpha bet
Gee, this hi-def is so vivid, all my past loves look fuzzy by comparison…
OK, GUYS, I GAVE YOU A STRAIGHT LINE, GO FOR IT!
Mot counting Mom, how fuzzy was she?
<a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpHWr7GgzMg&feature=channel_page>(sorry ! sorry ! sorry !)
DOH!
(sorry ! sorry ! sorry !)
SORRY!
Oh, well that sucks!
The HTML for:
.
(less than)a href=”link address”(greater than)
“text goes here”
(less than)/a(greater than)
.
…no longer works???
Worked for me (above this) in the comments. @10:03pm
.
Worked for me Doug …..
You been smoking that stuff again?
You’re doing it all wrong milika.. it’s the bracket then a href=”http://….” then close bracket… then text then bracket a and close bracket.
ChaCha & M: It’s OK! Really! The details may be read in the forum if you are curious.
Sooo… the simple answer is that the delimiter is changed to a bracket in both the website, and the forum; and it was changed (because it WAS working in the site – as per Smokey36bear – up until my most recent replies, before it quit working). Yes?
@CampKohler – I looked at the copy in the forum and saw no specific example for this. Hence, my question. And, of course, there are differences.
Eg. “the pretty box” doesn’t appear to work.
Looking at “Sorry sorry sorry” just above in this thread, NOW it is working? So, it works, again?
Thanks for the input. I’ll keep practising…
Now I’m confused.
First, the post of 10:08 didn’t work, because the quotes were missing around the href’s value (the URL after the =). I didn’t address that, because your post of 10:15 was correct, so you had fixed it.
There is nothing wrong at 10:15 and, as far as I can tell, there never was, isn’t now and never will be anything wrong with it, amen. So when you say it quit working, I am at a loss. I just checked it and J.C. is still apologetically hanging about.
As to the second paragraph, I don’t know what you mean about no example. If you could say a bit more on this, I would be glad to follow up. By “pretty box” you could mean the
, which in WordPress gives an actual box. Or you could mean the code tag, which M refers to as “pretty code.” (
) Anyway, leave any questions in the HFW Website Tech Op forum topic.
I don't why; there's nothing pretty about fixed-spaced fonts.It’s usable, it’s utilitarian, but it ain’t pretty.why not just copy and paste?
TEST PAGE!!lol
Sometimes I know what I’m doing…
and sometimes I just bang my head …!
Ow!
Geez, I open the door to some ribald repartee, and all I get is a bunch of techno-geek jabber!
I got scammed out of two computer cpus on ebay once but it was only about $1000.00 dollars, just a drop in the bucket compared to some of the mass amounts of money that has been scammed but some, think about Enron.
Marina Your romantic video on your You Tube channel says your travailing, Have a safe Trip.
And without too much “travail” along the way!
traveling
For The Record
The money is never really lost, it just changes hands
Quote
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” – Plato 427-347 B.C. from the HOTFORWORDS SIGHT….of hands
Make that NEXT tuesday
I promise to pay you double for a Salibury steak with mullet roe
“Waiter, I’d like a glass of water with a human hair in it”
.
“I’m sorry, sir. I am not allowed to give you that”
.
“Why not? You did the last time I ate here!”
Whimpy gets a loan.
For The Record
Energy is never created or destroyed, it just transforms.
I like that!
I never got scammed, I was the one scamming. I only did it once, so don’t think I’m a total cretin. I was like eight and there was a block party and some couple had set up a rolling ball game in front of their house. I just sat down next to it with a cup and people started paying me to play until the couple came out and took the game back inside. I made off with like fifteen bucks in change.
I can safely say that since inheriting some money in ‘95 that I have been somewhat “robbed by the bank” since 2000. On the other hand, I can say with some glee, that while Mr. Clinton was still president, I had already invested a good bit of what cash value which later disappeared quickly – into tools, hardware, software, an automobile that since ‘99 has fewer than 25,000 miles on it – and some adult education courses in audio and video engineering that enable me to offer services to artists. Most them these days are poor souls who are broke and I’m wondering what will become of what I have not sold off. Unable to make money my workstation has become a hobby not a business which it may still become. That’s a little tough but my value remains, if I feel I have been scammed by Bush and the whole private sector whom he represents in its worst aspect. Since making my investments and trying to write a book while living off my own money, the bank has been robbing all of us collectively, and in the US, the IRS takes their bite too. The purveyors of wealth, one of whom you mentioned (and he is just one of many) – manipulate the prices, and they water the stocks and they scheme to take a piece of us in both the public and private sectors while lining their own pockets and staying relatively safe until the system works not just for those whom they ripped off but for them too and most of them make out like bandits but for a few who are prosecuted as token representatives. Manipulating prices and watering stocks almost sounds like the name of a brokerage house I’ve heard of.
Where did all the money go? Perhaps capilist economics is synonymous with a ponzi scheme. Maybe Mr. Obama will change that culture. He’s the only politician I know who dares speak the U word: Usury. Perhaps you can give us the definition.
Thanks Marina.
Saving anything has lost its value because too many people live like pigs and act like turtle eggs….at least a dog or cat will be your friend….money ain’t honey
Well said!
I also like Twain’s remark that “the lack of money is the root of all evil.”
A dog or three works well too when the landlord runs out of oil or the boiler breaks, like a cat, especially in cold weather or befriending an actual bear in a bear market like a Kipling character I remember from one of my favorite stories of his. His friend MT said about dogs as all you “wordly” (sic) people know:
“If you take a starving dog and lead him to prosperity he will not bite you. This is the principle difference between a dog and a man.”
said well rightly
Dear Miss Orlova,
YOU can scam ME out of a million dollars ANY NIGHT!
*ThoughtOnFire checks his pockets*
But I don’t have $2 million . . . 
One Day
Your Student,
ThoughtOnFire
She could never ’scam’ me out of it – if I had it to give, I would probably do so willingly, and without remorse.
Marina, for your homework, have you ever been scammed of money? Even if it’s $1000, $100, or $1, have you ever been scammed by people you don’t know, people you sort of know, and even by your friends(maybe as a joke)
?
clover.. I got scammed out of my last apartment… when I got Gorby, even though others had dogs in the building they kicked me out and they didn’t give me back my deposit even though the apt. was in perfect condition! Arrggh!
Humm Marina,
Could you parley that into an appearance on The People’s Court?
Even if you lost, you win.
I can feel how mad you must’ve been. I’ve also felt that frustrating feeling when someone steals/takes away what belongs to you like money, possessions, credits(plagiarism) etc.. Hopefully those cold-hearted people/scams/thieves will get what’s coming to them one day, with their bad karma
p.s. The word “plagiarism” sounds peculiar, can you do an origin video of the word “plagiarism?”
I think this would make a great one next year, during “Speak Like a Pirate Week.”
I believe a landlord must give you a list of the failings and allow you to correct them. However, if you don’t take advantage of this, you give up the deposit. They can get pretty sneaky and find things like dirt on the back of the stove knobs, water spots on the outside of the windows, etc. On my last apartment, I just decided that I would do nothing and let them keep it all.
If other renters had pets and it was known to the landlord, you may have a legal case for whatever loss you suffered from the move. However, the cost of litigation would probably far outway any loss. You could go to small claims court, but only for provable monetary loss (not pain and suffering, etc.). Even then, you have to compare the cost of your time to what you could gain. I think landlords are well aware of and count on that.
Before you left, I hope you encouraged Gorby to pee right in the center of the living room rug.
bastards
spurious
Back in 1979 I “invested” money in gold futures — fortunately figured out that the “brokers” were crooks and got my money out (and my 40% profit) before the market peaked, crashed, and their whole Ponzi scheme collapsed.
Give me five, I’ll give you ten on Tuesday
Some nice Nigerian people I met on the internet want to help me.
>a href=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1384/531753006_9ddde6826f.jpg?v=0>”I will gladly repay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”
”I will gladly repay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”
Homework:
I got taken to the tune of ~$50k. 
All is good – Guy that took me is in jail now, and would be suicidal to fail to avoid me in the future. 
Another one to avoid is the scheme offerred
by John Beck. It is legal because all he gives
you are “classes” at an exhorbatant price.
First, he gets your information, then his
price is determined by your credit card limit.
Google his name to see what a mess he makes
of peoples lives.
Speaking of mess… Did you know that banks
are sending people credit cards (unsolicited).
When you cancel them, it is used against you
to degrade your credit score. Bank of America
is one of those engaged in this scheme. Thank
your senators and congressman for deregulating
the banks so they can do this. Mostly, they go
after you with these if you already have a mortgage.
The idea is to drive your mortgage interest rate
up until you default – bastards…!
It was illegal to do this without your signature
but your elected officials in Washington have
failed you by removing those laws. I guess
they thought nobody would notice with all
the other corruption going on, huh?
Homework: No. I did go to one A L Williams meeting.
It only to two minutes to figure out it was a pyramid.
They wanted to persuade you to believe you could
make a lot of money in the trade of stocks and bonds
(without a license), but you were nixed immediately if
they found out you were already a stock broker.
Once they set you up with a milestone, and you sold
to all your friends and family, they raised the barre
so you could never make the “big” money.
They didn’t like me – I asked too many questions
at the meeting that they didn’t want to answer
love it
I do not know how you do it but, the bells tells that horses could be pulling “gypsies”….hey that is my word request “gypsies” because of hindu origin and corruption of Egyptian according to Webster….getting taken by people for me have been from friends (petty Punks) and what is considered business—-peace to you always
Here I am again
#2 …..
I see the the posting theory doesn’t hold true as the ’smelly’
(should be skunk) is still on page 1 most pop YT …..
What theory?
she posts a new lesson when her vid hits the top 24 or higher. If it is on page one then it is in the top 20.
.
o ….. ic now …..
I misunderstood …..
.
1?
Yippee! A first-post cherry no more!
Марина, “cherry” тут значит “девственница.”
On second thought, it’s probably silly to think I can tell you anything about English you don’t already know.
What a great toe tapping way to start the day!
Thanks, Fianchetto.
Congrats on the #1!
Thanks, popzzz – I owe it all to (hold on to your hat) :
dumb luck!
My friend was just over for a house-warming dinner and movie. He just stepped out, and I just logged on!
BTW I am very much enjoying your contributions to the forum games! Pretty nifty stuff you post! Please continue!
.
Cool Doug!
Thanks …..
Yay! You’re NUMBER ONE!
Congratulations!
(I didn’t want to be #2 so I did my homework – LOL!)
beefheart and zappa we’re only in it for the money
Help! I’m a rock
what jesus and zappa think