November 2000 Topics
Acid Test, Clink, Cloaking,
Defalcate, Gimmick, Janet Cooke,
Street Law, and Wiggle Room
 

Beware of reports you want to be true, for whatever reason.
 

Fraud In Other Words: Professional Jargon and Uncensored Street Slang
By Larry C. Adams, CFE, CPA, CIA, CISA
 

Acid Test
A severe or crucial test. When gold was in wide circulation, the question often arose as to whether an alleged gold coin or object was genuine. Nitric acid was applied. If the piece was false gold, the acid decomposed it. If it was genuine, the gold remained intact.
James Rogers, The Dictionary of Clichés, Ballantine Books, New York, 1985, p. 2.
 

Clink
A prison or prison cell. Clink was derived from the Middle Dutch word klink, meaning door-latch. London's infamous Clink Prison (1109 - 1780 A.D.) was located in the Liberty of Clink, a medieval manor with a reputation for lawlessness and immoral activities. The prison was part of the palace of the Bishop of Winchester because the clergy was responsible for punishing wrongdoers. Prisoners in the cells were subjected to chains, iron fetters, torture, and flooding from the Thames River. The Clink Prison Museum remains a popular tourist attraction (www.clink.co.uk).
Jay M. Moynahan and Sarah J. Trent, "The Clink Prison," American Jails, July/August 1996, http://www.class.ewu.edu/class/CJ/
The%20Clink%20Prison. Photo: Chris Haydon,
www.southwark.tv/ tvtrust/stvboroimages.asp.
 

Cloaking
Enshrouding objects or concealing things. E-fraudsters use bulk e-mailing programs that include cloaking features. The cloaking features forge the return addresses and network information to hide the origin of their messages, making them difficult or impossible to detect. Fraudsters use rogue Internet service providers, who do not close the fraudsters’ Internet access and e-mail accounts despite complaints from victims who received their e-mail solicitations.
Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, October 30, 1999.
 

Defalcate
To misuse property or money that belongs to someone else and is held in trust. To take away. To embezzle. The Medieval Latin words defalco, de falx, and de falcis meant “to cut off with a sickle or pruning knife.” Defalco was used to describe how valuable grasses or crops were cut with a sickle, then taken away.
Charles Earle Funk, Thereby Hangs a Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins, Harper & Row, New York, 1985, p. 92.
 

Gimmick
A trick intended to attract attention, manipulate publicity, and achieve a result dishonestly. A piece of concealed information that, if known, would make an offer or opportunity less attractive. A device for making a fair game crooked. The word gimmick began as gimac, an anagram of magic.
Paul West, The Secret Lives of Words, Harcourt, Inc., New York, 2000, p. 122.
 

Janet Cooke
A failure to double check the facts and authenticity of a report or story. A lack of quality control by supervisors and managers. An abandonment of professional skepticism and responsibility. The term, Janet Cooke, is a symbol for the worst in American investigative journalism; contrary to the term Watergate, which is a symbol for the best. Janet Cooke was a reporter for The Washington Post in 1980. She wrote “Jimmy’s World,” an 18,000 word local news story spread over the front page and four full pages inside. It was a vivid report about an eight-year-old heroin addict who was regularly shot up by his mother’s live-in lover. More than 300 newspapers around the world printed her story. Cooke won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for feature reporting for “Jimmy’s World.” Two days after winning the award, Cooke confessed, under intense scrutiny, that she made up the entire story about Jimmy. She also admitted she falsified her academic credentials, resume, and job application. The surprising revelations of fraud tarnished the reputations of the Post, its owners, editors and staff, the mayor of Washington, D.C., the police department, and Howard University. Several lessons were learned from the global humiliation. 1. There really is no protection against a skillful liar in any profession. 2. Check job applications and references carefully. 3. Beware of reports you want to be true, for whatever reason. 4. Find at least one naysayer, and listen to him. 5. Never get discouraged by how hard it is to find the truth.
Ben Bradlee, A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures, Simon & Shuster, New York, 1995, p. 435 - 452. Photo: cenocracy.topcities.com/ cro84.html.
 

Street Law
Powerful, vengeful enforcement actions used by gangs or organized crime against anyone who interferes with their legal or illegal operations. Vindictive actions are taken against policemen, judges, legislators, trial lawyers, whistleblowers, and other persons to teach them a lesson. The premeditated acts of revenge are taken without regard to written laws. The strongest form of street law involves wet work - bloody actions like murder, bombing, rape, and disfigurement.
James Patterson, The Midnight Club, Ivy Books, New York, 1989, p. 71 - 73.
 

Wiggle Room
Enough scope or leeway for some freedom of choice, action or thinking. More latitude for allowing testimony, making plea bargains, or deciding verdicts. Extra space or discretion, in which to maneuver. Room for a plausible excuse. Elbow room.
John Grisham, The Brethren, Doubleday, New York, 2000, p. 18 - 19.
 

ã Copyright 2000 Larry C. Adams.
All rights reserved.
 

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