circuit breaker n. a rule or law that puts protective measures in place once a certain level of financial activity has been reached; (specifically) a law that provides tax refunds once a maximum of property taxes have been paid; a rule that shuts down or limits trading action when a stock market’s value or activity changes more than a certain percentage. Editorial Note: In Australia and New Zealand an additional meaning of the term is used, given by the Macquarie Dictionary as “an event, activity, etc., which acts as a distraction from previous preoccupations and tensions.” (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A Nevada listener says her mother used to ask her to collect the pearls after a meal, meaning “gather up all the unused dishes and utensils that didn’t need to be washed.” In Australian slang, such an item is often called a sunbeam. This is part of...
The expression to turn on a dime means “to change quickly.” Early on the phrase referred to horses or horse-drawn vehicles and later to motorized ones, and suggested the idea of changing direction quickly and easily without needing a large turning...