fuel poor adj.— «It is estimated that by Christmas 6m households will be defined as “fuel poor”—spending more than 10% of their income on gas and electricity. The prospect of the government fulfilling its 2001 pledge to eradicate fuel...
TBTF n.— «We’re talking about a pair of institutions that hold or guarantee more than half of the nation’s mortgages. In other words, they’re TBTF (too big to fail) and it’s a sure bet that we won’t let them go under. Treasury Secretary...
Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words! This past weekend we aired the episode in which we talked about "grouch bag," the pronunciation of "patronize," the origin of "dead heat," and the use of the German...
ambush marketer n.— «Beginning on Friday, the Chinese government will begin restricting advertising space in Beijing, giving preference to the official sponsors of the Olympic Games. The restrictions are meant to clamp down on so-called...
dollar-a-year man n.— «Before his death in 1955, the Pictou-born man was one of the country’s top corporate lawyers, known for driving around the streets of Halifax in the city’s first Rolls-Royce limousine. During the Second World War...
pass-through contract n.— «Because the federal government does not deal directly with private detention businesses, Nueces County is in the process of negotiating a new federal prisoner housing rate for its own jail as well as a rate for...