leave money on the table
v. phr.— «The ideal offering, investment bankers say, is one that rises to a small premium. A small price rise presumably gives the initial investors confidence in the company, and also confirms the sagacity of the corporate officers and underwriters involved in setting the offering price. The company thus does not feel that it left “money on the table.” By that criteria, the Genentech offering was not successful.» —“A ‘Hot’ Offering Retrospective” by Karen W. Arenson New York Times Dec. 30, 1980. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Oofless is an antiquated bit of British slang that describes someone temporarily short on cash. It’s from ooftisch, a Yiddish-derived term for “cash placed on the table,” from German auf Tisch. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Nancy Gabriel from Ithaca, New York, recalls her father’s no-nonsense responses to minor injuries when she was a child: After making sure she was really all right, he’d say, It’s far enough from your heart; it won’t kill you. Other times he...