waterfall
n.— «Last month, the retirement board, which Aguirre alleges covered up the city’s pension problem, eliminated an accounting method known as the “waterfall” that hid some of the city of San Diego’s pension obligations. Aguirre and outside consultants have condemned the accounting gimmick.» —“Without Paperwork, Reforms Lie Idle” by Evan McLaughlin Voiceofsandiego.org (California) Nov. 10, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
When there’s no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — “you’re on your own” — or CORN, for “Clean Out your Refrigerator...