breakage

breakage
 n.— «Most consumers will not miss the advantages that rebates promised. That is because only the most diligent and fastidious consumers took advantage of rebates. Retailers and manufacturers intentionally made the process of rebate redemption difficult. They even have a term for it: breakage.» —“Rebates on the Way to Expiring” by Damon Darlin New York Times Nov. 11, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

That Burns My Onions!

A listener in Unadilla, New York, says her husband, whose family is French-Canadian, uses the phrase That burns my onions when something irritates him. There are several kitchen-related metaphors used to express anger, including that steams my...

Sliding Ponds and Paths

In New York and northern New Jersey, a children’s playground slide was once commonly known as sliding pond or sliding pon. The terms reflect the considerable influence of Dutch settlement in that area, the Dutch word baan meaning a “path” and...