How to tell a ‘door buster’ from a ‘spendemic’
Those are just two of the wacky new terms it pays to get to grips with in the world of modern finance
AS OUR world changes, the English language has to adapt — and the world of money is no different. Here, language expert
ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD, a former researcher on TV’s QI, provides an alphabetical list of some financial words and phrases coined since the turn of the century...
ANT HILL FAMILY — the trend whereby children move back in with their parents so that all work together towards group financial goals.
BANKSTER — a member of the banking industry perceived as a predator, who grows rich at the expense of those affected by an economic recession.
CHALLENGER BANK — a relatively small retail bank competing with long-established national banks.
CLIPPED-WING GENERATION — young adults unable to be independent from their parents because they can’t afford living costs.
CRONY CAPITALISM — an economic system characterised by close relationships between business leaders and government officials.
DOORBUSTER — a product sold very cheaply in order to attract customers into a shop and make them buy other, more expensive things.
EUROGEDDON — total economic meltdown in Europe.
FARECASTING — predicting the best date to buy a plane ticket, especially on a website or an app.
FLASH CRASH — a very rapid decline in the price of one or more commodities or securities, typically the result of automated trading.
FLAT WHITE ECONOMY — the wealth created through the large number of people using a coffee shop or cafe to work in, rather than working in an office.
FREECYCLE — to give away something used or unwanted, as opposed to selling it or throwing it away.
GENDER TAX — the pricing disparities between products aimed at men and women, usually showing a premium on those products that are sold to women.
HUNKVERTISING — the use of pictures of attractive, scantily clad young men to advertise products.
JACKPOTTING — hacking into a cash machine in order to obtain money.
MENOPORSCHE — middle-aged men attempting to recapture their lost youth by buying themselves an expensive sports car.
MISERY INDEX — an informal measure of an economy, generated by adding together its rates of inflation and unemployment.
PRICE GOUGING — increasing the price of goods or services beyond what is considered fair, normally during a state of emergency.
SHOP DROPPING — leaving messages hidden in a shop (often in the pockets of a piece of clothing) to raise awareness of the ethical malpractices of the manufacturer or retailer.
SLOW GIFTING — shopping carefully and thoughtfully for gifts and buying highquality, often handmade items from small shops or individual sellers. SPENDEMIC — a sudden tendency for people to spend money, usually on unnecessary things. STOOZING — borrowing money on a credit card with a 0 pc interest rate, then investing the same money in a bank account that pays a high interest rate, so that a profit can be made when the original loan is repaid.
SUBPRIME — mortgages that are offered to applicants who do not have a good credit history or who will struggle to meet the cost of the loan.
SURGE PRICING — the practice of charging more for services at times of higher demand.
TECH WRECK — a collapse in the price of shares in hightechnology industries.
UPCYCLE — to reuse discarded objects or material in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.