The meaning of English words.

kgun · #1 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 01:40 PM

Is it possible to make this a sticky.

Background: English is a very rich language. That makes it facinating but also very difficult, especially on a high level. Human languages are not my speciality. Even if it is sometimes esy to find a translation if you look up a word in a dictionary, I sometimes get a feeling that I have not understood the word deep enough.
Book: It is sometimes said that Norwegians are born with ski on their feet. My mother and father used to say that I was born with a book in my hands. One of my favourite trading books, a true classic, originally published in 1923 by George H. Doran and Company is:
Edwin Lefevre "Reminiscences of a Stock Opertor."
Word: Double cross
Question: Does anybody have a good descriptin of the word "double cross" used in trading?

Literally translated to Norwegian: Double cross = "Dobbelt krysse" (Not a Norwegian term).

Yesterday, on a Tv program the word was translated to Norwegian with:

Lure = fool, cheat (Best translation to English that I can find).

P.S. My intuition is that to fool (for example a good trader) a order is placed at one broker (e.g the broker himself) do drive the price of a financial paper. Then another larger order is placed (at a frined of the broker) seconds after the clever trader has placed his order to drive the price in the opposite direction and "double cross" him. The aim of the double crossing operation is to get the clever trader out of the market. It is not (so) relevant today, when most brokers love clever traders, since they earn money on them.

**wige** · #2 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 05:14 PM

I have seen several interpretations of how double cross came into usage, but the most common seems to be that to cheat someone was known as crossing the person, and in later usage more complex cheats became known as double crosses. In the same way, cheats or thefts involving more than one victim would also be considered double crosses. For example, if a seller hired someone to rig an auction by inflating the auction price, that would be a cross. If the hired person then stole the auction item and resold it, that would be a double cross.

Another supposed origination of the term was the British intel operation during World War II called Operation Double Cross where German spies were captured and forced to send false intel back to Germany.

kgun · #3 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 07:17 PM

I have thought more of it since I wrote this post. In economics you have a market cross where the demand scedule crosses the supply scedule. If a companye / person / institution etc. manipulates the market as I illustrated above, you will have two market crosses. That makes sense to me as an economist.

E.g. the price is manipulated higher and you buy. Then, seconds later, a large sell order is placed by a significant player that wants to squeeze you out of the market, and the price is driven down, you take the loss and sell.

That is why a trader ought to have access to a lot of different brokers / exchanges (data screens) in the same market. Just before the market closes, a large fund manager that has to fill his books, are about to place a significant order that will drive the market in the opposite direction of what you predict.

This can of course happen in markets where both invstors and traders operate. Individuals with very different (trading / investing) horizons meet. The small fluctuations that are so important for a trader, are suddenly drowned by an order placed by a large institutional investor. But that is not cheating or double crossing.

Thank you for interesting interpretations / explanations.

Martinscholes · #4 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 09:39 PM

I hope this helps

Double cross - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

kgun · #5 (**permalink**) 08-02-2007, 06:17 AM

Thank you. I shall read that explanation when I am tired. Now I have another problem, regarding an and a.

I do not remember much of my High School English.

Problem: When shall it be an and when a?
Example 1: A URI and a URL, but an IRI or is that wrong?
Example 2: An XLink document and an XML document or is that wrong?
Example 3: Once you understand an RSS 1.0 document, the other syndication formats will be much easier to use.
Problem: Is the overall rule the pronounciation and not the spelling?

Example of where you find part of this text: My site OopSchool.com when you scroll down to the following heading: Syndication standards and important URL's for those standards.

**wige** · #6 (**permalink**) 08-02-2007, 10:54 AM

Standard disclaimer: IANAET (I Am Not An English Teacher)

With words, it is all determined by spelling. With abbreviations, it is based on pronunciation. Spell out each letter phonetically to determine if you should use a or an (not a hard and fast rule, but a good rule of thumb).

Example 1: URI = you are eye = a; URL = you are elle = a; IRI = eye are eye = an
Example 2: XLink = ex link = an; XML = ex em elle = an
Example 3: RSS = are ess ess = an

kgun · #7 (**permalink**) 08-02-2007, 11:07 AM

Excellent, thank you. The second that got positive contribution to RepRank from me.

kgun · #8 (**permalink**) 08-03-2007, 07:27 AM

Strange English word: hoitytoity (my fourth post) or is it slang?

kgun · #9 (**permalink**) 08-06-2007, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martinscholes

I hope this helps

Double cross - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finally got the time to read.

The term double cross refers most usually to a betrayal. To double cross someone means to suggest that you are an ally when you are not. The phrase originates from the use of the word cross in the sense of foul play - deliberate collusion to lose a contest of some kind.

In his book, "A Man Called Intrepid", William Stevenson claims that the term originated with a British military counter-intelligence operation during World War II. Apparently, the committee that ran the operation - which aimed to turn known German agents into sources of disinformation - met regularly in room 20 at headquarters. The number on the door to the room was written in Roman numerals, hence XX. Stevenson writes that the committee members began calling themselves "Room 20", and finally, the "double cross" operation.

So I was correct. The meaning of the word was deeper than fool or cheat

That it originated during World War II, can not be correct if the 1923 book that I cite above, is republished in its original form that I believe it is. Then the word double cross was already used on the stock exchanges in the USA, may be even before World War I.

A Wiki is not more correct than the person that wirte the story, even if he claims to be a specialist or is a professor. Don't believe everything you hear don't believe everything you read. Use your own common sense.

Note though:

It has also been suggested that the term was inspired by the practice of 18th-century British thief taker and criminal Jonathan Wild, who kept a ledger of his transactions and is said to have placed two crosses by the names of persons who had cheated him in some way. This folk etymology is almost certainly incorrect, but there is documentary evidence that the term did exist in the 19th century. (See the entry on Wild.)

Interesting concept. Se also Double Cross System

May be there are more stories.

kgun · #10 (**permalink**) 08-06-2007, 04:28 AM

Double Cross (role-playing game)

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Double Cross

Double Cross The 2nd Edition coverDesigner(s)Shunsaku Yano, F.E.A.R.Publisher(s)Fujimi Shobo, Game FieldPublication date2001 (1st Ed.)
2003 (2nd Ed.)Genre(s)SuperheroSystemCustom
Double Cross is a Japanese superhero role-playing game released in 2001.
Player characters are called Overed and possess superhuman powers brought from a virus called Renegade. Overed's supreme powers are classified under 12 syndromes which correspond to character classes of other role-playing games. PCs select one or two syndromes. Characters with one syndrome are called Purebreed, and characters with two are called Crossbreed. Many Overed are changed by the Germ, which results in the loss of sanity. PCs stand against Germ's violence or crimes.
The game uses only 10-sided dice. Two peculiar connection rules named Lois and Titus represent PC's human relationships. Lois is named after Superman's love interest Lois Lane and represents important people whom the heroes protect. Titus is named after William Shakespeare's tragedy Titus Andronicus and represents defunct people or Lex Luthor. Lois maintains PCs' sanity and prevent PCs' lost. Titus can be used as hero point. Always Lois can be transferred into Titus.
The theme of Double Cross is solitude and distress of superhuman that try to defend his small happiness in daily life.
Double Cross's default setting is contemporary Japan, but other various settings are available for play.

thehappysmoker · #11 (**permalink**) 08-07-2007, 05:05 AM

I have found www.worldwidewords.org invaluable for researching, and asking questions about, English words.

It may be worth noting that in Chaplin's parody of Hitler ("The Great Dictator") his equivalent of the swastika is cleverly called called "The Doublecross".

kgun · #12 (**permalink**) 08-07-2007, 08:46 AM

Thank you. I shall try it out.