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golden handcuffs: msg#00000culture.language.word-of-the-day
**************************************************************** Is there a "scare" in the word "scarify?" Scare up the answer to this and other disputes in our Concise Usage Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?conusg.htm&6 **************************************************************** The Word of the Day for November 1 is: golden handcuffs \GOAL-dun-HAND-kuffs\ noun : special benefits offered to an employee as an inducement to continue service Example sentence: Dad eventually accepted the golden handcuffs and agreed to five more years with the company. Did you know? Chances are you've heard of a "golden handshake," which is a particularly tempting severance agreement offered to an employee in an effort to induce the person to retire early. People started getting "golden handshakes" (by that name) around 1960; by 1976, English speakers had also coined the accompanying "golden handcuffs" to describe a situation in which someone is offered a special inducement to stay. The expression turns up often in quasi-literal uses, such as "slapped golden handcuffs on" or reference to "a shiny new set of golden handcuffs." (It's also common in British, as well as American, usage.) |
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