calor licitantis
n.— «Confused, the team tried a larger sample—this time observing thousands of iPod auctions. In that case, 45 to 50% of eBay auctions exceeded the “buy it now” price, she says. Expanding the pool again, they found that the quirk affects expensive and cheap items, men’s cologne and women’s perfume, and books by liberal Sen. Barack Obama and by conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly. The Romans had a term for this auction-house “curse,” Malmendier says, “They called it calor licitantis—bidder’s heat.”» —“Economists puzzled by irrational eBay buyers” by Chris Gaylord USA Today July 17, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
You may have heard the advice that to build your vocabulary you should read, read, and then read some more – and make sure to include a wide variety of publications. But what if you just don’t have that kind of time? Martha and Grant...
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