This week’s theme
Metaphors & idioms

This week’s words
baloney
daisy cutter
swan song
haircut
Piccadilly Circus

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(HAIR-kuht)

MEANING:

noun: A reduction in value.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English hǣr + Middle English cutten. Earliest documented use: 1955.

NOTES:

The term haircut is used metaphorically in many ways, such as when assessing the value of an asset pledged as collateral against a loan. For example, a bank might decide that an asset worth $1000 could take a 20% haircut and thus be used to secure a loan of at most $800. The term is also used for other reductions: a pay cut, a cut in benefits, a reduction in the repayment of a loan, etc.

USAGE:

“The latest projections point to an 11% haircut for Medicare and a 23% one for Social Security when their trust funds run dry.”
Third-Rail Thriller; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 15, 2023.

See more usage examples of haircut in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: