Use English please

English translation: GE cracks down on illicit appliance sales in Miami

19:12 Dec 15, 2003

English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]

English term or phrase: Use English please

FRIDGE CONNECTION
A Tangled Tale of GE, Appliance Smuggling And Laundered Money
Firm Gets Tough on Deals In Miami Area, Prodded By a Gadfly in Colombia
What is the meaning of fridge and Gadfly. Please also explain the whole thing.

adda

Selected answer:GE cracks down on illicit appliance sales in Miami

Explanation:
Both of the answers above were correct, as far as they went - however, when one reads "money laundering" (play on words again; buying/selling washing machines, e.g., to legitimize drug money) and "Colombian gadfly", the "Fridge connection" to the drug industry seems obvious. Perhaps the gadfly in this case is the more serious one of persistent drug trafficking.

Selected response from:

Laurel Porter (X)

Grading comment

Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +7

GE cracks down on illicit appliance sales in Miami

Laurel Porter (X)

5 +4

One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.

Rolf Klischewski, M.A.

4 +5

Fridge = refrigerator...

Marian Greenfield

Answers

8 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.

Explanation:
"What is a Gadfly anyway?
We like to think it's someone (or a company, in our case) that "stirs the pot" -- bristles at the status quo, bucks the norm, etc. And in the record industry, there's a lot to work with."

gad·fly n.

1. A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.
2. One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.
3. Any of various flies, especially of the family Tabanidae, that bite or annoy livestock and other animals.

This entire thing is about wordplay. "Fridge Connection" may refer to the film "French Connection". Somebody seems to smuggle refridgerators. GE means "General Electric", a huge US company dealing in anything remotely connected to a socket.

Reference: http://www.gadflyrecords.com/
Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=gadfly

Rolf Klischewski, M.A.
Local time: 05:24
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in pair: 12

17 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

use english please Fridge = refrigerator...

Explanation:
GE manufacturers refrigerators, and yes, it probably is a reference to The French Connection... the movie about the big drug deal/corrupt cop.

gadfly - annoying person that is always coming up with new schemes

so I would say that GE cracked down on appliance smuggling after a Colombian busy body made a lot of noise.

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 23:24
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 732

25 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +7

GE cracks down on illicit appliance sales in Miami

Laurel Porter (X)
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 36

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