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Thread ID: 48295 2004-08-19 03:02:00 OT: My two cents mister harbies (5607) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
263181 2004-08-19 09:04:00 www.linuxquestions.org Terry Porritt (14)
263182 2004-08-19 09:08:00 Re: Made millions.

Could be an urban myth, supposedly a computer programmer who had some control over a Bank's finances where incremental transactions like rounding up and rounding down were just lost into the ether, wrote a program where upon all the fractional increments were deposited into a created account which every now and again he fleeced. Made many millions as the story goes before being found out and prosecuted, don't know what happened to him.
zqwerty (97)
263183 2004-08-19 09:36:00 hte bank programmer story is probably an urban myth, see here for the "salami" technique (www.snopes.com) (not an Italian dance floor technique) andrew93 (249)
263184 2004-08-19 10:34:00 You've all got it wrong. It's the change you should get when purchasing 2 items from the red shed where everyone gets a bargain. macpen macpen (6025)
263185 2004-08-19 11:44:00 > Re: Made millions.
>
> Could be an urban myth, supposedly a computer
> programmer who had some control over a Bank's
> finances where incremental transactions like
> rounding up and rounding down were just lost into the
> ether, wrote a program where upon all the fractional
> increments were deposited into a created account
> which every now and again he fleeced. Made many
> millions as the story goes before being found out and
> prosecuted, don't know what happened to him.



Its even more then an urban myth,its a movie.
metla (154)
263186 2004-08-19 11:46:00 > Could be an urban myth, supposedly a computer
> programmer who had some control over a Bank's
> finances where incremental transactions like
> rounding up and rounding down were just lost into the
> ether, wrote a program where upon all the fractional
> increments were deposited into a created account
> which every now and again he fleeced. Made many
> millions as the story goes before being found out and
> prosecuted, don't know what happened to him.

Bwahahaha Office Space
whiskeytangofoxtrot (438)
263187 2004-08-19 12:34:00 That movie is hilarious. kiki (762)
263188 2004-08-19 20:55:00 I hate to come in late but, for the post-decimalisation generation, the phrase is probably an update of put in my twopennyworth; twopennyworth being considered a paltry or insignificant sum - the first recorded use of the word occurring in 1850 or thereabouts .

I liked Scouse's explanation linking it to the cost of mail at 2c an ounce . However, if that is correct it may well have originated with the phrase twopenny post, this being a postal service that operated in London (1801-1839) by which letters etc were conveyed at an ordinary charge of twopence each .

All of the above being courtesy of the Shorter Oxford Dictionary . It is interesting to note that in its definition of the various phrases containing twopenny there is a graphic illustration of inflation over the years:

twopenny upright slang a prostitute
Raymondo (5284)
263189 2004-08-19 21:04:00 addendum
The above rolls much more easily of the tongue if you use the recognised and preferred pronunciation of tuppence
Raymondo (5284)
263190 2004-08-19 23:41:00 "Buckman" reminds me of being at school. I hate it. Just my $10 worth (my opinions are automatically worth much more. Yeah, I know its not fair, but that's life). Biggles (121)
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