January 2001 Topics
Backhander, Card Mill, Culprit, Cybersquatting, Laura Norda, Paralipsis,  Pass the Buck
 

The World Wrestling Federation
(WWF) used the United Nations to
win a landmark fraud case.
 

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

Backhander
A secret payment or tip. A person who makes or receives a bribe. A backhander conceals a secret payment under his palm, with the back of his hand facing up; contrary to a normal payment which is made with the palm of the hand up. The term backhander also applies to a person whose writing slopes toward the left.
John Ayto, Oxford Dictionary of Slang, Oxford University Press, New York, 1998, p. 194.
 

Card Mill
A card mill is a company that sells travel agent identification cards to consumers. The consumers are led to believe that they can pose as travel agents and obtain deep discounts on airfares and hotel rooms, free meals, free admission to theme parks, cruise upgrades, and other services. Legitimate travel agents do get incentive discounts on trips intended to familiarize them with the destinations and facilities they are booking. A card mill sells the ID cards to consumers for $495 and offers other multilevel marketing scams priced even higher. A card mill solicits consumers by mail, on the Internet, and in free seminars. In 1997 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) prosecuted several of the hundreds of card mills. One card mill settled with the FTC by agreeing to refund up to $3 million in damages. Most victims of a card mill scam never receive any discounts and never receive refunds. To thwart card mills, the travel industry is protecting itself by standardizing ID cards and travel promotion cards with the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN).
“Travel Like a Travel Agent for Only $495,” http://www.homebasedtravelagent.com/ scams.htm, October 18, 2000.
Photo: www.iata.org/idcard/ travel/samples.htm.
 

Culprit
A person charged for a crime before a judge. During the seventeenth century, a prisoner would stand in a British court and plead “Not guilty.” A Clerk of the Crown would contradict him by replying, “Culpable: prit d’averrer nostre bille.” It was an Anglo-Norman phrase meaning “Guilty: we are ready to prove our charge.” The phrase was abbreviated and entered into court records as “Cul. prit.”
Charles Earle Funk, Thereby Hangs a Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins, Harper & Row, New York, 1985, p. 86.
 

Cybersquatting (Cybersquatter)
Cybersquatting is the abusive practice of registering the name of a famous person, trademark, product, movie title, city or company as an Internet domain name. A cybersquatter effectively usurps the name in bad faith for ransom or for commercial use to divert consumers. A domain name is a unique address computer users around the world enter to access a Web site. New domain names are registered at a rate of one every five seconds, 6.3 million a year. A cybersquatter can register a top-level domain name, such as www.yourdomainname.com, for as little as $20. He speculates he can sell the domain name within days to the logical person or organization for thousands of dollars, or auction the domain name to the public. The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) won the first case against a cybersquatter, decided by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations. Many companies have filed civil lawsuits against cyberpirates in U. S. federal courts under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, enacted November 29, 1999.
“First Cybersquatting Case Under WIPO Process Just Concluded,” http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/
releases/2000/p204.htm, January 14, 2000; and http://www.mama-tech.com/antipiracy.html, October 18, 2000.
 

Laura Norda
This is how “law and order” sounds in uneducated Australian or “strine.”
Paul West, The Secret Lives of Words, Harcourt, Inc., New York, 2000, p. 156.
 

Paralipsis (Paralepsis, Paraleipsis, Paralepsy)
A suggestion that something is significant, even though the speaker declares he deliberately will not talk about it. A rhetorical technique of emphasizing a topic by using a phrase like “not to mention.” A paralipsis can be a pretended omission or an attempt to divert attention. It can be a subtle offer of a clue or simply an effort to be brief. The tactic is used by vindictive political candidates, deceptive salesmen, reluctant witnesses, and cunning interrogators.
Encarta World English Dictionary, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1999, p. 1309.
 

Pass the Buck
To divert responsibility or to blame someone else. Originally the phrase was a strategy in card games. A piece of buckshot (buck) or a token on the table indicated the position of the deal. The dealer’s opening wager determined whether the pot was likely to be large or small. If a cautious player did not want to deal and make the first bet, he passed the buckshot to the next player. In straight poker or bluff, the buck marked the player whose turn it was to put up the ante for the whole table. Today, anyone who avoids making decisions or accepting responsibility is said to pass the buck. The phrase commonly is attached to evasive politicians and officeholders. However, President Harry S. Truman kept a sign on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.”
Webb Garrison, Why You Say It, MJF Books, New York, 1992, p. 75. Photo: www.greybirdrelics.com.
 

ã Copyright 2001 Larry C. Adams.
All rights reserved.
 

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