TBTF

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 Henry Paulson apparently asserted today that the government is not planning an imminent bailout, by which he means that the government is busy planning an imminent bailout.» —“Bernstein: What Fannie and Freddie Are Telling Us” by Jared Bernstein CNBC July 11, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

Keep Your Powder Dry (episode #1519)

Jacuzzi and silhouette are eponyms — that is, they derive from the names of people. An Italian immigrant to California invented the bubbly hot tub called a jacuzzi. And the word silhouette commemorates a penny-pinching treasury secretary who lasted...

Spinning Cookies (episode #1618)

A book of photographs and essays by famous writers celebrates libraries — and the librarians who changed their lives. Plus cutting doughnuts, spinning cookies, and pulling brodies: There are lots of ways to talk about spinning a car in circles on...