doorbuster

[Ben Zimmer]

Added to Oxford's current dictionaries (NOAD/ODE) in 2006:

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/doorbuster?q=doorbuster


On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 5:26 PM, David Barnhart <dbarnhart at highlands.com> wrote:
>
>
> doorbuster, n. {w} Also written door buster or door-buster.  a merchandise
> sale so inviting that customers will break the doors down to gain access.
> Standard (used in informal contexts dealing especially with Christmas retail
> sales; very frequent)
>
>
>
> "Computers, TVs, laptops, tablets.  Everything.  I'm here for it all,"
> Bryndon Romero of Newburgh said Wednesday, as he waited for the "door
> buster" sales to begin more than 30 hours later, at midnight Thursday.
> "Shoppers camp out for Black Friday," Times Herald Record, Nov. 22, 2012, p
> 48
>
>
>
> "We will have doorbusters Thursday night and until 1 p.m. Friday," Davis
> said.
>
> Goody's has stocked 10 percent more merchandise, and Davis said he was
> expecting it to be extremely busy. Matt Burrowes, "Black Friday comes a day
> early," The Natchez Democrat [Miss.] (Nexis), Nov. 22, 2012, p not given
>
>
>
> Reducing peak loads also is the goal of the early-morning and late-night
> promotions. Breakfast at Tiffany's may be more romantic than breakfast at
> Woodies, but Tiffany's doesn't have 8 a.m. doorbusters. Some stores
> practically will pay you to shop at that hour, and you're likely to get
> better service from clerks who have not yet been trampled by gift-givers.
> Jerry Knight, "Oh Come All Ye Shoppers," The Washington Post (Nexis), Dec.
> 10, 1984, Washington Business sect., p 1
>
>
>
> It was the deal of the century, maybe the millenium: dinosaur bone fragments
> for a buck, door-buster discounts on mammoth molars and half price on
> trilobites.  "Domestic News," The Associated Press (Nexis), Sept. 23, 1983,
> p not given
>
>
>
> Says Ron Rulof, Lieberman Homes, "Newspaper sections have become more
> competitive, so we're using more direct mail.  In a particular part of town,
> it's better to identify prospects via income and special interests than run
> a door buster offer." "Street Smarts: How marketing works for home
> builders," Ad Day (Nexis), July 10, 1986, Sect. II, p 6
>
>
>
> Composite (compound): formed from door (eOED: 721), as in
>
> door-opener (eOED: n.d.), + buster (eOED: 1835), as in ratebuster (eOED:
> 1970).

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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