bulls and bears

     Bulls and bears are sports teams, but they are also Wall Street "teams". The "bulls" believe that business is good, and predict that stock prices will rise. They "bet" on this by buying stocks, hoping to sell them for more than they paid for them when the price goes up. The "bears" believe that business is bad, and predict that stock prices will fall. They try to wait for the best time to sell their stocks--before prices fall, so they can get the most money for them. So if the "bulls" want to buy, they have to offer the "bears" a price for their stocks that makes them want to sell. Perhaps this does make prices rise a bit. The stocks having been bought and sold, the price may go down--because those interested in buying the stocks ( bulls ) have already bought them. An attempt to sell them again would have to be at a lower price, since the buyer is not as interested as the "bulls" were when they bought them. The game turns into a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

in the black

     "In the black", to a business or corporation, means making a profit ( making money).

     "In the red", to a business, means losing money.

    Graphs or charts of profits and losses are traditionally drawn to match--the profits are shown in black ink, the losses in red.

law and order

     Some of the oldest written history in the world is in the Old Testament. The society described in the Old Testament had a hereditary priesthood, and a code of laws, both civil and criminal. These laws included the distinction between murder in a fit of passion and murder in cold blood. They included financial liability laws, such as who should bear the financial burden of a deceased cow, when the cow was left in care of someone else. Their civil laws also provided for the cancellation of a contract to borrow money, if done within three days--something we have only instituted recently. The Old Testament people had laws against rape, including a provision that if the woman could have been heard by her neighbors, she should have cried for help. If the woman could not have been heard by anyone, crying out was not deemed necessary to prove a case of rape. Our modern investigators use a technique similar to what Daniel did when he was sure two men were lying--he separated them, and each told a different story.
     The genesis of all law codes is the people. Those who believe that we have the right to govern ourselves also believe that we are all more prosperous and secure when we have the capacity to insist on a set of  standards, and to enforce them in such a way that the "public" is satisfied with the result. For instance, murder has been known to start a blood feud that can last for generations, and endanger all of the people in the community. If we want our community to survive, crimes have to be dealt with in a way that convinces people that the law works for them.

brothers and sisters

     Brothers and sisters--that one is obvious--the same mother, the same father. A term you rarely hear anymore is half-brother or half-sister--meaning the same mother, but different fathers--or the same father, but different mothers. Now that so many people marry more than once, this term should be more useful than ever. Half-brothers and half-sisters are related, though not as closely related as brothers and sisters are. Half-brothers and half-sisters may have different last names, even though they are closely related. Not to be confused with step-brothers and step-sisters, meaning the woman and the man marrying for the second time each have children from a previous marriage. Step-brothers-and step-sisters are not biologically related--although if their parents have a child together, that child will be a half-brother or sister to all of them.

blackmail

     Blackmail is an informal term for extortion, presumably extortion by mail or letter. Extortion is a crime for which the offender can be prosecuted--if caught. The extortionist finds out something about someone, and threatens to tell unless the victim pays. Sometimes this might be knowledge of a crime the victim has committed, but the more usual case would be attempting to entrap a prominent person through evidence of an illicit sexual liaison. For instance, a disreputable-looking woman might come up to someone in a public place and throw her arms around him, while someone snaps a picture. The picture is then "sold" to the victim of the extortionists. When extortionists use the mail--for example, by sending a copy of the photo described above, along with a demand for payment--it may still be called "blackmail". You can watch this in action in the Hollywood classic Elmer Gantry.

statute of limitations

     A statute of limitations defines the term during which a crime can be prosecuted.  A common statute of limitations might be seven years for theft. That means that after seven years, the case is no longer pursued, and cannot be prosecuted. Murder has no statute of limitations--that is why you sometimes read about a murder case being tried after thirty or even forty years. Lesser crimes often do have a limit. Since the limit is written in the law code, it is called the statute of limitations.

dictionary advice

     An unabridged dictionary supposedly contains all of the words in the English language--although sometimes a few are missing. All of the words means just that--everything, even if it is obscene, offensive, or merely incorrect. The lexicographers who decide what belongs in the dictionary use standard print media as a guide--so even common misspellings are included. While you should use the dictionary for spelling and definitions, do not suppose that because a word is in the dictionary, it is acceptable to use. If you use the dictionary, learn what the abbreviations you will find after some words mean--a key to the abbreviations should be in the front of the dictionary.  Here are some commonly used abbreviations--
arch.  stands for archaic, meaning no longer in use because it is old-fashioned
inc. stands for incorrect
obs. stands for obscene
off.  stands for offensive