nuclear winter
n.—Gloss: A period in which investment capital is very hard to come by.
«I invest in Silicon Valley companies. In 2001-2004 there was a nuclear winter for deal flow dried up almost 100%. Lots of people going back to business school. I haven’t seen that to date. The environment has not changed at all. Innovation in SV is alive and thriving and the deal flow is wide open. It won’t be as bad as the Winter.» —“TC50: Angel Investors Say Now Is Their Time” by Mike Butcher TechCrunch Sept. 8, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The adjectives canine and feline refer to dogs and cats. But how does English address other groups of animals? Plus, cabin fever has been around much longer than the current pandemic. That restless, antsy, stir-crazy feeling goes back to the days...
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...