Banged up

prison lookoutFrom the information in this article on the Reuters website, it seems that Allen Stanford is having the opposite problem from the ladies we saw trying to break into a jail last week. It seems like Stanford can’t wait to get out.

There was lots of interesting vocabulary in this article starting in the title:

Banged up, Allen Stanford back in jail after brawl

Banged up‘ can mean locked in prison or injured after a fight. In this case, it is a pun and carries both meanings at the same time. The other interesting word in this headline is ‘brawl‘ meaning an uncontrolled fight.

The next interesting expression is in the first paragraph where it is mentioned that Stanford was the ‘mastermind‘ of a fraud scheme. We use ‘mastermind‘ to talk about the person who thinks of a plan and controls the group implementing the plan. We could also call him the ‘brains’ behind the plan.

There is another interesting expression later on where Kent Shaffer is quoted as describing Stanford as being ‘in good spirits‘ meaning he is in a good mood or has a positive attitude.

The last expression I would like to look at is ‘Ponzi scheme‘. This is a type of fraud where people are encouraged to invest in an unsustainable money-making program by the promise of very high interest rates. A ‘Ponzi scheme’ is unsustainable and will either collapse after a period of time or the fraudster will take the investors’ money and run! This article has a more detailed explanation.

Today’s image is by Miguel Saavedra.