Difference between revisions of "Vernaculars of informality"

Finally, large-scale corruption and fraud has its own vocabulary, often created by the media. ‘Cash for questions’ in British politics comes to mind, as well as the Italian ''‘tangentopoli’'' (‘bribesville’) scandal in the early 1990s. Combining ''‘tangente’'' meaning kickback, and ''‘-poli’'' meaning city, the term referred to kickbacks given to politicians for awarding public works contracts. The term [[Fimi_Media_(Croatia)|Fimi Media]] (detailed in this volume) emerged in Croatia from a political scandal surrounding the marketing agency of the same name, and has come to refer to any misuse of public funds and power by political parties in the country. In Hungary, the term ‘Nokia-box’ became a symbol of corruption in 2010 after the Head of the Budapest Public Transport Company, Zsolt Balogh, was caught handing over cash to the Deputy Mayor of Budapest, Miklos Hagyo, in a Nokia box. Since then, ‘Nokia box’ has also became a sort of ‘unit of measurement’ – meaning 15 million Fts., the size of Mr Balogh’s original bribe. In the Czech Republic, the terms ‘little carps’ (''kapříci'') and ‘fish’ (''ryby'') were used as coded language during a large corruption scandal in Czech football. In communication between the managers, referees and players a ‘little carp’ also operated as a unit of measurement, meaning 1,000 CZK per ‘fish’. Indeed, even for established criminal gangs, references to food and animals can provide a convenient vehicle for secret communications. When several members of the Italian Cosa Nostra were arrested in the summer of 2015, it was revealed that they had communicated with the mafia boss Matteo Messino Denaro via coded messages left on a farm in western Sicily. ‘I have put the ricotta aside for you, will you come by later?’ read one, and ‘The sheep need shearing’ read another.

Finally, large-scale corruption and fraud has its own vocabulary, often created by the media. ‘Cash for questions’ in British politics comes to mind, as well as the Italian ''‘tangentopoli’'' (‘bribesville’) scandal in the early 1990s. Combining ''‘tangente’'' meaning kickback, and ''‘-poli’'' meaning city, the term referred to kickbacks given to politicians for awarding public works contracts. The term [[Fimi_Media_(Croatia)|Fimi Media]] (detailed in this volume) emerged in Croatia from a political scandal surrounding the marketing agency of the same name, and has come to refer to any misuse of public funds and power by political parties in the country. In Hungary, the term ‘Nokia-box’ became a symbol of corruption in 2010 after the Head of the Budapest Public Transport Company, Zsolt Balogh, was caught handing over cash to the Deputy Mayor of Budapest, Miklos Hagyo, in a Nokia box. Since then, ‘Nokia box’ has also became a sort of ‘unit of measurement’ – meaning 15 million Fts., the size of Mr Balogh’s original bribe. In the Czech Republic, the terms ‘little carps’ (''kapříci'') and ‘fish’ (''ryby'') were used as coded language during a large corruption scandal in Czech football. In communication between the managers, referees and players a ‘little carp’ also operated as a unit of measurement, meaning 1,000 CZK per ‘fish’. Indeed, even for established criminal gangs, references to food and animals can provide a convenient vehicle for secret communications. When several members of the Italian Cosa Nostra were arrested in the summer of 2015, it was revealed that they had communicated with the mafia boss Matteo Messino Denaro via coded messages left on a farm in western Sicily. ‘I have put the ricotta aside for you, will you come by later?’ read one, and ‘The sheep need shearing’ read another.

==Notes==

==Notes==