alphabet soup

Paul Frank paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU
Thu Dec 16 06:23:07 UTC 2010


The OED says that alphabet soup means "a clear soup containing pieces of
paste or biscuit shaped like letters of the alphabet," which it does.
But more often these days, it means something quite different:

Members of the Treasury select committee have expressed their concern at
an "alphabet soup" of new regulators.
  FT Adviser, 30 Nov 2010

A Guide to the Alphabet Soup of Fed Bailout Programs‎
  Wall Street Journal, 1 Dec 2010

The annual celebration of motorcycles and the folks who love to ride
them boasts an alphabet soup of bikes from BMW to Yamaha and most
manufacturers in between, as well as stunts from Jason Britton's Team No
Limit and workshops for riders who like to wrench.
 LA Times, 16 Dec 2010

Paul
--

Paul Frank
Translator
Chinese, German, French, Italian > English
Espace de l'Europe 16
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
paulfrank at bfs.admin.ch
paulfrank at post.harvard.edu

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