market for lemons
n.— Note: Coined by George Akerlof, who won a Nobel Prize in Economics for the paper he wrote that popularized the term. «Indeed, it would seem that a “market for lemons” is rapidly developing in credit markets. This is an extreme example of Gresham’s Law wherein investors believe that the disclosure by financial institutions of their credit exposure has been very poor and hence they have no choice but to price everything as if it were a “lemon” rather than a good quality credit.» —“‘Market for lemons’ rapidly developing” by Hugh Dougherty The Australian (Sydney, Australia) Dec. 3, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
When there’s no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — “you’re on your own” — or CORN, for “Clean Out your Refrigerator...