Hello. I'm a little stumped. I am touching up a Big Bang novel and I realized I may have used the incorrect terminology for two things. Here's the scenarios
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My understanding of "bait and switch" is to offer something of high value then "switch" it for something of low value.
For example, you show the victim a real diamond so they'll believe your story and give you cash. When they give you cash, you give them a fake diamond instead. You get the money; they're left with nothing.
I suggest the scams and confidence tricks category on wikipedia to start with (and no, I couldn't google my way there either, I had it bookmarked.) If you want to look for more lists of terms, I've found the best way is is to google a few of the terms on Wikipedia's list and see what else comes up.
I can't, offhand, think of an old con-game name for either of those scenarios, though. The jargon tends to be rather more specific, and more directly focused on making money (rather than wiggling out of getting in trouble for it). A general term that you could use for those sorts of plans that involve several layers of trickery and the right hand not telling what the left hand is doing is "shell game", though; that one quickly got extended beyond the original game.
"Shell game" comes pretty darn close. You're right, most cons really focus more in money. I should have looked it up before writing but research before writing always waylay me. I had faith this comm wouldn't let me down. So far, been getting great help.
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My understanding of "bait and switch" is to offer something of high value then "switch" it for something of low value.
For example, you show the victim a real diamond so they'll believe your story and give you cash. When they give you cash, you give them a fake diamond instead. You get the money; they're left with nothing.
I could, of course, be wrong... :)
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I can't, offhand, think of an old con-game name for either of those scenarios, though. The jargon tends to be rather more specific, and more directly focused on making money (rather than wiggling out of getting in trouble for it). A general term that you could use for those sorts of plans that involve several layers of trickery and the right hand not telling what the left hand is doing is "shell game", though; that one quickly got extended beyond the original game.
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I'll definitely look at that link! Thank you!
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