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Get-rich-quick Schemes

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 268: Get-RichQuick Schemes.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 268. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com and download a Learning Guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary, definitions, cultural notes, and a complete transcript of this episode.

This episode is called “Get-Rich-Quick Schemes,” or plans. It’s going to be a dialogue between two people talking about a program that is supposed to make you rich very quickly. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

Bill: What are you watching?

Susan: I’m watching a really interesting TV program. It’s about how to make a lot of money quickly and easily.

Bill: Are you watching an infomercial? Those things are scams! You should know better than to fall for some get-rich-quick scheme.

Susan: This isn’t a scam. This program is about how make money with no capital. All I have to do is to get other people to sell these products and I’ll get a cut of the profits.

Bill: That sounds like a pyramid scheme. Only a few people at the top make money, while all of the other people lose their shirts.

Susan: It doesn’t seem like a fraud to me. Sit down and watch for a minute and you’ll see all of the testimonials from people who have used this system and who have struck it rich. It may really work.

Bill: There’s a sucker born every minute. How much do you have to pay to learn the secrets to this system?

Susan: It’s only $179.95, and I can pay in monthly installments. The program comes with a step-by-step book and video on how to get started.

Bill: I think you’re wasting your time. I can think of a lot of things I’d rather spend $179.95 on.

Susan: That’s your prerogative. Don’t come to me later when I’m a millionaire and you want my business advice.

Bill: Don’t worry. That will never happen.

[end of story]

Our dialogue between Bill and Susan begins by Bill asking her “What are you watching?” Usually that’s a question when you are referring to the television – what are you watching on the television. Susan says, “I’m watching a really interesting program. It’s about how to make a lot of money quickly and easily.” Bill then asks, “Are you watching an infomercial?” An “infomercial” (infomercial) comes from two words, “information” and “commercial.” An “infomercial” is a program that you see on television. Usually they are a half hour or one hour long, and they are, basically, long advertisements for certain products or services.

These became popular about 15-20 years ago on American television. If you watch American television, especially late at night, on some channels you will see these 30 or 60 minute commercials where they try to sell you things; often they try to sell you things that don’t really work – diet plans, exercise equipment. Sometimes they sell a special course that will help you become rich, or so they say! So, the word “infomercial” has a negative meaning for most Americans; it means a program that tries to sell something that probably won’t work.

Bill says that infomercials “are scams” (scams). A “scam” is a plan for making money, usually by cheating and lying to other people, so it’s usually an illegal thing – a scam.

Bill says that Susan “should know better” – she should be smarter – “than to fall for some get-rich-quick scheme.” The expression “to fall (fall) for something” means to be tricked or fooled into doing something, or believing something that isn’t true. Someone may say to you, “Don’t fall for that infomercial” – don’t be fooled; don’t be tricked by that infomercial. Bill says that it is a “get-rich-quick scheme” (scheme). A “get-rich-quick scheme” is a plan to make a lot of money by cheating or lying to someone.

But Susan says, “This isn’t a scam” – is not a scam. She says the program she is watching “is about how make money with no capital.” “Capital” (capital) here means a large amount of money, usually money that you invest in, or put in, a business or a project. The idea is that you try to get something new started, like a new business, or to make it grow bigger. The word “capital,” like the expression “to fall for,” has a couple of different meanings. Take a look at our Learning Guide today for additional explanations.

So, Susan is saying that this is a program about how you can make money without having any money – with no capital. “All I have to do,” she says, “is get other people to sell these products and I’ll get a cut of the profits.” “To get a cut (cut) of something” means to get a part of or a percentage of. In this case, Susan is going to get “a cut of the profits” (profits). “Profit” is money that a business makes. You take the money that a business spends to make its product, and you take the money that people pay for the product, you subtract one from the other and the money left over is your profit – it’s the additional money that you made. So, Susan will get a cut of the profits if she can get other people to help her sell these products.

Bill says that this “sounds like a pyramid scheme.” “Pyramid” (pyramid) are like what you will find in Egypt. In ancient Egypt, they built these large – triangular they look – pyramids. The Pharaohs of Egypt built the pyramids. A “pyramid scheme,” however, is a business where you have one person on the top, and then you have some people below him, and then more people below them, and so forth. For example, I get two people to sell my product; these two people give me 15% of the profits – I get a cut of the profits. Then, they find two people each, that will sell the product, and give them a percentage, and I get my percentage. And so this continues until you get more and more people. Unfortunately, of course, this can’t work for everyone because everyone would need to find more people to sell their product. These kinds of businesses – pyramid schemes – are illegal in many places in the U.S., but they were very popular in the 80s and the 90s.

Bill points out that “Only a few people at the top” of the pyramid “make money, while all of the other people lose their shirts.” The expression “to lose you shirt” means to lose everything – to lose all of the money that you have.

Susan disagrees with Bill. She says, “It doesn’t seem like a fraud to me.” A “fraud” (fraud) is when you cheat or lie to someone to get their money; that would be called a “fraud.” Usually that is illegal – it is against the law – but of course, some people do it.

Susan says to Bill, “Sit down and watch for a minute and you’ll see all of the testimonials from people who have used this system and who have struck it rich.” “Testimonials” (testimonials) are what customers and other people say about a product or a service. Usually it’s a good thing; they say, “Oh, this was the most wonderful ESL Podcast in the world!” That would be a “testimonial.” It’s very common on these infomercials to have interviews with customers, or people they say are customers, who have been successful with the product; they give testimonials.

“To strike it rich” – the past tense of strike is struck (struck) – means to be very successful with something, usually to make a lot of money. “I’m going strike it rich in California.” Bill says that “There’s a sucker born every minute.” This is an old expression that a famous circus organizer – someone who had circuses and shows called P.T. Barnum – P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” A “sucker” (sucker) is a person who is easily fooled or tricked by another person’s ideas or actions. Usually it’s someone who loses money; someone who is not very smart and they get fooled or tricked.

So, Bill is saying with this expression “There’s a sucker born every minute,” there are lots of people who are not very smart, who lose money because they don’t understand what is going on. He, of course, is saying that Susan is a sucker. It’s a very negative term to use about someone; you’re saying that they are stupid and they will lose their money.

Bill asks how much this course costs, and Susan says, “It’s only $179.95, and,” she says, “I can pay in monthly installments.” “Installments” (installments) are partial payments. When you buy something but you don’t pay the whole thing right away, you pay a little bit each month; that would be to pay in “installments.” Susan says that “The program comes with a step-by-step book and video.” The expression “step- (step) by-step” means that it describes each thing that you have to do in order; it’s a very detailed explanation.

Bill says to Susan, “I think you’re wasting your time.” “To waste (waste) your time” is to do something that will not give you results. Bill says, “I can think of a lot of things I would rather spend” my money on.

Susan responds, “That’s your prerogative.” “Prerogative” (prerogative) is a person’s right to do something or to decide something. If someone says, “That’s your prerogative,” they mean that’s your right, you can do what you want to do. Usually you use that when you disagree with the other person, but you understand that they can make their own decision.

Susan says to Bill, “Don’t come to me later when I’m a millionaire and you want my business advice.” She’s saying someday I will have a lot of money; I will have a million dollars. A person who has a million dollars is called a millionaire (millionaire); a person who has a billion dollars would be a billionaire. I am not millionaire, or a billionaire!

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.