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August 2, 2010
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“‘Acceptable level of unemployment’ means the government economist has a job” (Nowlan’s Truism)

"An 'acceptable level of unemployment' means that the government economist to whom it is acceptable still has a job" was given as 'Nowlan's Truism" in 1978 and…

January 23, 2024
Banking/Finance/InsuranceWork/Businesses

“‘Your bill is ready to view’ well I’m not ready to view it”

"'Your bill is ready to view' well I’m not ready to view it" is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images. Many people are not fully prepared to see how much they…

February 16, 2010
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“(When you) Get a hunch, bet a bunch”

"(When you) Get a hunch, bet a bunch" has been a gambling saying since at least 1937. The saying was also adopted by the racetrack, with this ending: "Get a hunch and bet a bunch --…

May 6, 2024
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“$1,000 isn’t a lot of money to have, but it is a lot to owe”

"Being an adult is realizing that $5,000 is a lot of money to owe and very little money to own" (or "Being an adult is realizing that $1,000 is little money to have, but a lot to…

November 24, 2022
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“$100 is basically an adult dollar”

"$20 is like an adult dollar" is a saying that has been printed on several images. $100 has also been called an adult dollar. That is, just a dollar doesn't have significant value…

November 24, 2022
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“$20 is like an adult dollar”

"$20 is like an adult dollar" is a saying that has been printed on several images. $100 has also been called an adult dollar. That is, just a dollar doesn't have significant value…

May 6, 2021
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“50K don’t get you to first base in the Big Apple” (Wall Street film, 1987)

The movie Wall Street (1987) showed a wealthy, unscrupulous corporate raider, Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas, who won an Academy Award for this role. The plot also involved a young…

May 26, 2023
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A 350 credit score prevents identity theft”

"A 350 credit score prevents identity theft" is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images. A 350 credit score is very poor, and something no one would want to steal.…

March 5, 2010
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it”

Entry in progress -- B.P. Google BooksThe Yale Book of QuotationsEdited by Fred R. ShapiroNew Haven, CT: Yale University Press2006Pg. 369:Bob Hope (Leslie Townes Hope)English-born U.S. comedian,…

October 14, 2010
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A banker lends you an umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back when it rains”

The humorous definition of a banker is of a man who lends you an umbrella when the sun is shining, but who wants the umbrella back the moment it starts raining. That is, a bank will lend you money…

June 6, 2016
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A belt made of dollar bills would be a waist of money”

The term "a waste of money" has a popular pun: "A belt made of dollar bills would be a waist of money" The pun "waist of money" was used in the 19th century. "A…

August 10, 2012
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money”

"A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money" is a popular saying that has been printed on gift items, such as T-shirts and posters. "A yacht, they say, is a hole in the…

August 20, 2013
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A bubble is a bull market in which you don’t have a position”

Dominic Frisby, of MoneyWeek, wrote in November 2009: "One of my definitions of a bubble is 'a bull market in which you don't have a position'. How many of those that say gold…

September 29, 2017
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends”

American money manager Barton Biggs (1932-2012) said in February 1996: "Bull markets are like sex -- they feel best just before the end." American investor Warren Buffett used Biggs'…

December 5, 2010
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A correction is when you lose money and a bear market is when I lose money”

What's the difference between a short-term "market correction" and a "bear market" or a "crash"? A joke says that the difference is not how far stocks have…

February 19, 2025
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A Dad’s Dream: To have enough money to live the kind of life his wife and kids do”

"A Dad's Dream: To have enough money to live the kind of life his wife and kids do" is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images. "DAD'S DREAM... to have enough…

August 21, 2009
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A day late and a dollar short”

The phrase "another day, another dollar" dates to the early 1900s and is a typical day laborer's lament -- meaning constant work for little pay or advancement. "A day late and a…

July 21, 2019
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A dyslexic robber runs into a bank and screams, ‘Air in the hands, mother stickers!’”

A bank robber might shout, "Hands in the air, motherfuckers! This is a stickup!" A jocular dyslexic version has been printed on many images. "No, but I can do you the one about the…

December 2, 2014
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A father carries pictures where his money used to be”

"A father carries pictures where his money used to be" is a jocular line of unknown authorship. "A father is someone who carries his children's pictures where his money used to…

February 6, 2012
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“A financier is a pawnbroker with imagination”

"A financier is a pawnbroker with imagination" is credited to the playwright Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934). This is slightly incorrect. In Pinero's play, Iris (1901), one character…

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BARRY POPIK is a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of American Regional English, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Yale Book of Quotations and Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. Since 1990 he has also been a regular contributor to Gerald Cohen's Comments on Etymology.

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