Are contracts obtained giving special terms? (5)
I believe the answer is:
argot
'special terms?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'are contracts obtained' is the wordplay.
'contracts' means to remove the last letter (I've seen 'contract' mean this (contract can mean to shorten)).
'obtained' becomes 'got' ('get' can be a synonym of 'obtain').
'are' with its last letter taken away is 'ar'.
'ar'+'got'='ARGOT'
'giving' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for argot that I've seen before include "Criminal jargon" , "Slang, patois" , "Jargon or slang (of a group)" , "Slang of a particular group, originally thieves" , "Ancient Greek coin" .)