Columnist Lucy Kellaway wrote in the Financial Times about feeling less anxious and fearful in the workplace as she gets older. She concluded that such feelings are bog standard, a British expression meaning “common” or “widespread...
Shangkong n.— «Once the global recovery begins, however, New York and London might be vying less with one another than with a new competitor in the form of a partnership between Hong Kong and Shanghai—call it “Shangkong”—a highly...
Grant has the latest headlines from the world of language, including the debate over the name of the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Is Beijing pronounced bay-JING or bay-ZHING? Also, a recent court decision concerning an offense that’s...
mattressing n.— «In the leaked testimony, Mr Kerviel even spoke of a technique called “mattressing,” the term used by other traders and managers at the bank to hide their results.» —“Custom and practice, or a man with a lot to...
happy-clappy adj.— «There again, his departure may not have been quite so abrupt as it at first appears. Of the eight top executives—nine if you include Mickey Mouse—photographed in the company’s happy-clappy annual report, he’s the only...