take a haircut
v. phr.— «The intent of such sessions is to identify what creditors will settle for. “But there was no goal seeking,…other than that everyone wanted 100 cents on the dollar. I think that nobody wanted to accept their fate, which was that everybody had to take a haircut.”» —“Living A Corporate Nightmare” by N.R. Kleinfield in Valley Stream, Long Island New York Times June 30, 1982. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Ever wonder what medieval England looked and sounded like? In Old English, the word hord meant “treasure” and your wordhord was the treasure of words locked up inside you. A delightful new book uses the language of that period to create...
Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence developed their own hand signs, with hundreds of gestures, that are still in use today. Plus, how do speakers of different languages distinguish similar shades and tints of colors such as red, yellow...