metal play
n.— «In industry parlance, the plane deals are called “metal plays.” After 9/11, when airlines started returning planes to creditors or demanding substantially lower lease rates, a few hedge funds saw an opportunity, but it involved a radical rethink of the way investors came up with valuations for planes.» —“Stocks, bonds…or jets” by Barney Gimbel CNNMoney June 11, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Brian from Lafayette, Indiana, wonders why chicken is abbreviated CHX in the restaurant industry. Using X as a substitute or shortener has a long history. Medieval scribes sometimes drew a line through the final stroke of an abbreviated word. This...
Our conversation about using natural objects such as rocks, driftwood, or antlers, as decoration prompted a Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, beachcomber to suggest that like beachcombing, searching for such items in the woods might be described as...