How Can You Make a Buck Fast?

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Easy! 1) Use a strong rope and a good knot! 2) Make sure he eats nothing for a day! 3) Show him the doe (dough) a mile away ... see how he runs! 4) Buy something for $99 and sell it for $100! Did you groan at each one? I don't know why puns very often make us groan rather than laugh but they do! English is a very good language for making puns (and, of course, they don't usually translate well) so perhaps that is why the English (and, possibly, Americans too) rather enjoy their puns and double entendre! I bet that most people who opened and read this discussion immediately thought of the fourth answer! Come on, be honest! You did, didn't you? Why is a dollar called a buck? It seems that, long before the dollar became the standard currency in the US, there were many hunters and trappers and people used animal skins in trading and the skin of a buck (a male deer) was pretty much a standard unit. You might trade a bottle of whisky or a sack of beans or a loaf of sugar for a buckskin and so, when gold and silver became currency, the name stuck and the dollar got called a buck[skin]. Quick, Slow, Quick, Quick, Slow! Nope, I'm not giving dancing lessons! I'm just curious why we can 'make a boat fast' (tie it up so that it cannot move - the slowest of the slow, if you like) and 'run fast' (that's pretty quick, as things go!). It seems that, originally 'fast' meant 'firm' and 'solid' - something reliable and steadfast (there it is again!) but then got extended to mean something strong or vigorous, so that to 'run fast' meant to run vigorously or quickly. Likewise, a firm resolve to abstain from food (and other naughty things) became known as a 'fast'. English (and most other languages) do this all the time. Why invent a new word when an old one will do? A Recipe for Distaster? Not so many, perhaps, will know that Buckfast Abbey in Devon, UK is the home of a community of Benedictine monks who decided to manufacture a 'tonic wine' which they named Buckfast (after the place), and known as "Buckie" to its devotees. It is somewhat notorious, since it isn't really a wine at all but, being cheap and alcoholic, it was (and is) often the staple of the homeless street-dwellers of England. It is somewhat uniquely nasty (if you like wine at all) and is concocted from grape juice, alcohol and caffeine (as well as other things). I suppose that it was invented to sustain the monks and keep them awake during the long round of matins, vespers and other religious observances but was found to sell well to people outside the abbey as a 'tonic' and so to become a source of income! Is 'Fast Food' an Oxymoron? Now I'm wondering where this ramble will lead us - there are so many topics here which are ripe for discussion! Should I eat my words, do you think, or should I give up my curiosity and delight in the byways of the English language and go on a fast? On the other hand, if I get 100 responses, shall I have made a buck faster than I have ever done before here?