OUP (UK) WOTY: credit crunch

[Benjamin Zimmer]

"Credit crunch" has been chosen as Word of the Year by Susie Dent of
Oxford University Press (UK):

http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/woty_uk/

Dent's new book _Words of the Year_ also covers other terms related to
the credit crisis:

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NINJA LOAN – a loan or mortgage made to someone who has 'No Income, No
Job, No Assets'

JINGLE MAIL – the practice of sending back one's house keys to the
mortgage company because of negative equity, or the inability to keep
up with payments

IPOD – acronym for 'insecure, pressured, overtaxed, and debt-ridden'

HOMEDEBTOR – homeowner with a very large mortgage, particularly one
that they are unlikely to ever pay off

SPEED MENTORING – a style of career- or life-coaching modelled on
speed dating, in which each participant has a few minutes to seek
advice on career-related questions

FUNT – someone who is Financially UNTouchable

EXPLODING ARM – variable rate mortgage with rates that soon rise
beyond a borrower's ability to pay

GOING UNDERWATER – falling into negative equity

STAGFLATION – stagnant growth and rising inflation
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--Ben Zimmer

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org