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prettygoodwordtontine - n., a form of life insurance or annuity scheme where, on the death or default of a participant, his share is distributed to the remaining members.
Which doesn't quite do it justice. Wikipedia describes it as "an odd mixture of group annuity, group life insurance, and lottery." Currently illegal in the States, because of the incentive to murder other participants. From Lorzeno de Tonti, an 17th-century Italian-born banker who invented it.
---L.
Which doesn't quite do it justice. Wikipedia describes it as "an odd mixture of group annuity, group life insurance, and lottery." Currently illegal in the States, because of the incentive to murder other participants. From Lorzeno de Tonti, an 17th-century Italian-born banker who invented it.
---L.
