April 3, 2009
Recession expressions
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few months, you’re aware that there’s a recession going on. But did you know that this economic downturn has generated its own vocabulary?
Here’s a list of words to help you get through this fiscal fiasco:
Recessionista: A style maven on a budget.
Obamanomics: The president’s plan to fix our ailing economy.
Furlough: Unpaid—and often unwelcome—time off from work.
Furcation: A vacation taken while on furlough.
Vulture vacationer: A traveler who takes advantage of the low costs caused by the recession.
Zombie bank: A bank that cannot lend money but stays in business due to government support.
Nationalization: When the government steps in to run failed businesses.
Bailout: The money failed businesses get from taxpayers before they face nationalization.
Staycation: A vacation at home because you can’t afford to travel anywhere.
The latter two terms are so overused that they made the 2009 banished words list.
Have any of your own financial phrases to share? We’d love to hear them!
Filed by rebecca at 12:22 pm under For the love of words
I’m glad to have aquired yet another name - add the Vulture Vacationer to the ever growing list!!!! A very happy one, as well.
Pam: You were exactly the person I had in mind as I wrote about the “vulture vacationer”!
Hmmm, I can’t think of any others right now, but I find it so interesting how new words are generated and how they become so widely used.
Recessionista is particularly funny.
PS. I’m proofing right now and either the author or the editor (I actually suspect the editor) has a very strange and irritating habit of unnecessarily compounding words. Hyphens everywhere! Maybe you could do a post on that…
I agree, Steph. As far as I know, most of these words originated in the media. What does that say about our culture?
Oooh, compound words … great idea - thanks!