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Sorry, not a native speaker. What does it mean to "raffle somebody off"? (Edit: googling it says: "dispose of in a lottery", which makes me wonder: why is there

Sorry, not a native speaker. What does it mean to "raffle somebody off"? (Edit: googling it says: "dispose of in a lottery", which makes me wonder: why is there such a specific verb in the English language? I have never even thought of "disposing of anything in a lottery")

rement 6y ago
A raffle is a game of chance. You "buy into" the raffle and get a ticket that goes into a hat or bowl. The person doing the raffle chooses a ticket at random and the person that owns that ticket is the winner. It's not really about "disposing" the donkey it is about giving other people the chance to win the donkey...that is dead
GolDDranks 6y ago
Anyway, to the fellow confused people, here's the simple English version: Kenny made the donkey a prize of a lottery he organized, and didn't tell the participants the donkey was dead.
slongfield 6y ago
A "raffle" as distinct from a "lottery" in American English differs in how the prize is decided, and what kinds of things are typically the prize. Typically a lottery runs in one of two ways: with pre-decided winning tickets, or a number that's drawn after the tickets are distributed to decide which ticket (if any) is the winner. In this way, the odds of winning are mostly independent of the number of tickets sold. The prize is usually money. A raffle works by selling tickets, and then picking exactly one of those tickets to be the winner, making the odds directly dependent on the number of tickets sold. The prize is usually a physical object, and not money (though there are exceptions, e.g., a 50/50 raffle).
- GolDDranks 6y ago
  Thanks for the explanation. I'm familiar with the both forms of gambling, but for some reason, I've encountered "lottery" as a term a lot more; "raffle" I hardly knew, until now. Thanks!
mattkrause 6y ago
The event itself is called “a raffle” and the verb comes from that. The technical difference, vs a lottery, is that a raffle always has exactly one winner, drawn from all of the entries. In most lotteries, it’s possible for no one to win or several people to share the prize. Raffle also implies that the event is a smaller, one-off event, usually with non-cash prizes and often for charity. A church might have a raffle to raise money for a new roof, using prizes donated by the parishioners. This is in contrast to lotteries, which are usually run by the government, feature cash prizes, and occur on a fixed schedule.
Raidion 6y ago
Usually raffles in the US are for charity or fundraising purposes. You can't run a lottery usually, as those run against gambling laws. You can run a raffle, where an item worth $X (and usually donated so X=0) will be given away to the owner of a random ticket which costs $Y. The runner of the raffle sells N tickets. Your profit/fundraising is $YN - $X. Often raffles are sold significantly below expected value. A popular raffle to support a charity is called a 50/50 raffle. This is where the winner of the raffle receives 50% of $YN, and the charity receives the other 50%. Buying a ticket isn't a good financial decision, but it's for a charity, and you can end up winning, so they are popular.
- GolDDranks 6y ago
  From what I understand, the game of bingo is similar to lottery in the sense that the participants can and do decide the contents of their tickets themselves. Is organizing bingo OK in the US or does it run against the gambling laws?
yayitswei 6y ago
In response to your question in the edit: it's the word "off" at the end that gives the phrase a nuance that could be interpreted as "disposing of".
dodobirdlord 6y ago
English has an unusually large vocabulary, many words with very specific meanings.

rement 6y ago

A raffle is a game of chance. You "buy into" the raffle and get a ticket that goes into a hat or bowl. The person doing the raffle chooses a ticket at random and the person that owns that ticket is the winner. It's not really about "disposing" the donkey it is about giving other people the chance to win the donkey...that is dead

GolDDranks 6y ago

Anyway, to the fellow confused people, here's the simple English version: Kenny made the donkey a prize of a lottery he organized, and didn't tell the participants the donkey was dead.

slongfield 6y ago

A "raffle" as distinct from a "lottery" in American English differs in how the prize is decided, and what kinds of things are typically the prize. Typically a lottery runs in one of two ways: with pre-decided winning tickets, or a number that's drawn after the tickets are distributed to decide which ticket (if any) is the winner. In this way, the odds of winning are mostly independent of the number of tickets sold. The prize is usually money. A raffle works by selling tickets, and then picking exactly one of those tickets to be the winner, making the odds directly dependent on the number of tickets sold. The prize is usually a physical object, and not money (though there are exceptions, e.g., a 50/50 raffle).

GolDDranks 6y ago
Thanks for the explanation. I'm familiar with the both forms of gambling, but for some reason, I've encountered "lottery" as a term a lot more; "raffle" I hardly knew, until now. Thanks!

mattkrause 6y ago

The event itself is called “a raffle” and the verb comes from that. The technical difference, vs a lottery, is that a raffle always has exactly one winner, drawn from all of the entries. In most lotteries, it’s possible for no one to win or several people to share the prize. Raffle also implies that the event is a smaller, one-off event, usually with non-cash prizes and often for charity. A church might have a raffle to raise money for a new roof, using prizes donated by the parishioners. This is in contrast to lotteries, which are usually run by the government, feature cash prizes, and occur on a fixed schedule.

Raidion 6y ago

Usually raffles in the US are for charity or fundraising purposes. You can't run a lottery usually, as those run against gambling laws. You can run a raffle, where an item worth $X (and usually donated so X=0) will be given away to the owner of a random ticket which costs $Y. The runner of the raffle sells N tickets. Your profit/fundraising is $YN - $X. Often raffles are sold significantly below expected value. A popular raffle to support a charity is called a 50/50 raffle. This is where the winner of the raffle receives 50% of $YN, and the charity receives the other 50%. Buying a ticket isn't a good financial decision, but it's for a charity, and you can end up winning, so they are popular.

GolDDranks 6y ago
From what I understand, the game of bingo is similar to lottery in the sense that the participants can and do decide the contents of their tickets themselves. Is organizing bingo OK in the US or does it run against the gambling laws?

yayitswei 6y ago

In response to your question in the edit: it's the word "off" at the end that gives the phrase a nuance that could be interpreted as "disposing of".

dodobirdlord 6y ago

English has an unusually large vocabulary, many words with very specific meanings.