Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiz about the ties that bind various sets of three words. For example, what do essay, excess, and decay have in common? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Ties That Bind Quiz”...
enter runoff v. phr.— «It looks like some insurers will “enter runoff,” that is, do no new business and instead collect their premiums as the bonds they insure mature.» —“Ambac, MBIA Finally Have Their ’Peggy Lee...
sterilisation n.— «Central banks build reserves by creating domestic currency to buy the dollar and euro reserves. This has a cost, via inflation or through what is known as “sterilisation.” Sterilisation costs arise when a...
vein brother n.—Gloss: a man with whom you get high on injected drugs, especially if you share a needle. «But nothing in their records, or in their daily appearances around the neighborhood, could foretell what became the macabre final...
hog n.— «There are, however, a number of investors—for example, central banks and pension funds—that rely only on the rating agencies for their information. Thus they fail to act when the markets start moving, and are forced to act when...
poison put n.— «In December 1995, following several quarters of weak sales, Kmart Corp. came on the brink of a bankruptcy filing: Their problems stemmed from the possible exercise of $550 million of poison put bonds outstanding, which...