mark to myth
n.— «Banking auditors are watching carefully to ensure bank valuations based on in-house mathematical models are not, in the phrase coined by Warren Buffett, “mark to myth.” In the backwash of the credit crisis, U.S. and European banks have revealed more than $50 billion of writedowns and losses from U.S. subprime mortgage loans, leveraged loan commitments and other assets since the end of August. Big chunks of those writedowns are based on mark-to-model valuations, which banks must justify to their auditors.» —“Auditors set to ensure banks don’t mark to myth” by Jane Baird in London Reuters Nov. 16, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Jim in Columbia, South Carolina, has noticed sportscasters’ use of the phrase on the season with reference to a period of time. This construction shows up in the sports pages as early as the 1880s, first referring to a team’s revenue and...
The slang phrase someone ate and left no crumbs means the person did something really well. In a previous call, a listener who works in theater noted the use of ate to mean “did something well,” as in they really ate that haircut! This...