Ripoff

A ripoff (or rip-off) is a bad financial transaction. Usually it refers to an incident in which a person is overcharged for something, or receives goods or services not of the standard expected for the price. A ripoff is usually distinguished from a scam in that a scam involves wrongdoing such as fraud; a ripoff may be considered excessive, but not illegal.

Alternative uses

Love ripoff

In a related meaning, a ripoff is a blatant or unscrupulous copy or imitation. This is also known as a knockoff. Two examples are the 1988 movie Mac and Me, widely seen as a ripoff of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extraterrestrial and the animated The Secret Life of Pets, widely seen as a ripoff to Pixar's Toy Story. In both senses there is an associated verb "to rip off", but the location of the preposition differs between the two meanings:

In South Africa 'ripping off' can be making a joke of something that a person does on a regular basis; see running gag. Another related term is "ripping on" or to "rip on" something; used to describe humorous verbal abuse directed towards a person, thing or concept. Ripping on something is typically light-hearted, but can also be cruel in nature just like any type of putdown.

In musical terminology Ripping Off is a light form of plagiarism, as in 'borrowing' an established riff, phrase or idea from a musician or song. When musicians use the term among themselves they are referring to the context of 'quoting' their influences and incorporating the licks into their personal style.

See also

References

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