As our world changes, the English language has to adapt and keep up – 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…
Money talks: As our world changes, the English language has to adapt and keep up – and the world of money is no different
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 auto- mated 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.
Flat white economy: The wealth created through the large number of people using a coffee shop or café 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.
Menoporsche: Middle-aged men attempting to recapture their lost youth by buying themselves an expensive sports car.
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 high-quality, 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 per cent 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 high- technology 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.