zombie economy
n.— «Yuen Pau Woo was the economist responsible for Japan in Singapore’s central bank when the Japanese bubble—helped by a run-up in real estate prices that made Park Ave. co-ops look affordable—caused the world’s second biggest economy to burst. “It became what was known as the zombie economy,” says Woo, now CEO of the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation think-tank. “Many people look back and see that it was a mistake that they didn’t act quickly enough.”» —“Can U.S. escape zombie economy’s clutch?” by Tony Wong Toronto Star (Canada) Oct. 4, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Martha from Rock Hill, South Carolina, wonders about the phrase She’s got the botts, meaning “she’s pouting.” The botts, also spelled the bots, refers to “a general malaise or moody spell,” and the bot in this case is the same bot in the botfly, a...
Depending on its mood, a turkey’s skin can shift from red to blue to white, due to changes in the blood vessels between bundles of collagen. That phenomenon is reflected in the Japanese term for “turkey,” shichimencho (七面鳥), which...