English Language FAQ

A run on a bank is when a large number of customers withdraw their funds simultaneously. If a run on a bank gains momentum it can quickly 'fail' or go out of business, as  happened with Lehman Brothers in 2008. This is what George (James Stewart) is trying to prevent in the famous scene (above) from 'It's a Wonderful Life'. With institutions that are 'too big too fail' (see The Royal Bank of Scotland) a government or international financial organisation may rescue the bank by either taking it over or injecting huge amounts of cash. This can prove ruinously expensive (see the current situation with the Spanish banks). How do you stop a bank run? With great difficulty. The traditional remedies are: a) delay -  ....the bank is going to open again next week ... the key requirement is to 'buy time' to organise refinancing. This means slowing down the rate at which customers can withdraw their funds. At the end of the scene above George agrees to r

When economists talk about fiscal policy they are referring to raising and spending taxes. Monetary policy is what central banks do to control the amount of money in an economy. Normally they do this either raising/lowering interest rates. Raising interest rates restricts the amount of money circulating and should reduce inflation. Lowering interest rates encourages expenditure as there is more money available. But as everyone know these are not 'normal' economic times. Interest rates in the advanced western economies have fallen to close to zero - but the recovery remains this. To counter this some central banks have introduced something called quantative easing .  Put simply means pushing more money directly into the economy via the banks - see here for more details.

Not from the accommodation arrangements on ships to India as is commonly claimed. The story goes that the more well-to-do passengers on ships travelling between England and India used to have POSH written against their bookings, standing for 'Port Out, Starboard Home' (indicating the more desirable cabins, on the shady side of the ship). Unfortunately, this story did not make its appearance until the 1930s, by which time the term had already been in use for some twenty years. Added to this, the word does not appear to have been recorded in the form 'P.O.S.H.', which would be expected if it had started life as an abbreviation. ( Source ) A more likely source is the 1890s slang word for a dandy, but there is no agreement about origin.

A partial shortlist below: Humphrey Bogart   Casablanca (1942) "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" Renee Zellweger   Jerry Maguire (1996) "You had me at hello" Clarke Gable   Gone with the Wind (1939) "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" Arnold Schwarzenegger   Terminator II (1992) "Hasta la vista, baby" Gloria Swanson   Sunset Boulevard (1950) "I'm ready for my close-up" But what makes these lines so memorable? Researchers at Cornell University think they have 'created a computer program to break down the formula behind some of cinema's most enduring lines'.  Hasn't this 'formula' alway been the elusive holy grail for Hollywood? Disney hired top screenwriters for their epic John Carter - only to end up with one of the most expensive flops of all time. In contrast Casablanca was famously chaotic in its development, with actors going into celebrated

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Because they exercise their brains more - at least according to a recent New York Times article: It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles. Full article Incidentally, in British English 'smarter' usually refers to personal appearance rather than intelligence. .

Michael Lewis Liar's Poker opens with the description of a famous wager made on a Wall Street trading floor in 1987. The CEO of the (soon to be bankrupt Salomon Brothers approached his star trader with an outlandish challege, 'One hand, one million dollars, no tears'. The 'hand' or game he was referring to was 'liar's poker (aka 'cheat' or 'spoof'in the UK). It involved no playing cards but a combination of statistical calculation and bluffing (convincing your opponent of a falsehood). Players hold random dollar bills with close attention to their own bill serial number. The objective of the game is to bluff the opponents into believing that your bid does not exceed the combined sum of all of the serial numbers... The game requires great mathematical skill because the probability calculations are extremely complex. But even more essentials is a 'poker face', the ability to lie convincingly. if one player bids three 4s, he

We can be pretty certain that Shashibiya never visited China. His work, however, has long been venerated by Chinese intellectuals. The first reference to him came in in a translation of Milner’s The History of England in 1857. Can you guess who I am talking about? See here

In Hamlet, according to the Hollywood anthem 'Thats Entertainment'. More on the relationship between Tinseltown and the Bard here

Winners of Hollywood's Academy Awards receive a gold-plated statuette on a black metal base.  It is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians. The popular name for an Academy Award is an Oscar. But there is no definitive explanation as to why. The name was first publicly used was in an article by Hollywood columnist about Katharine Hepburn's first Best Actress victory at the fifth annual ceremony in 1934. By 1939 the word was universally known - but there remains confusion regarding its origin. One theory is that the name came from an early Academy director, Margaret Herrick, in 1931. According to this legend, Herrick thought that the statue looked like her Uncle Oscar. Another is that Bette Davies named it after her hu

An escrow account is an account managed by a bank and dedicated to a special purpose - for example, the 'bail-out fund' created by the European Union to refinance member states. If Portugal did not have the funds to repay it debts, it could (temporarily) avoid credit default by drawing funds from the escrow account. That might work for the smaller economies. But for Italy? Or France? Who will finance this safety net? And if they money was needed, would this mean a severe  haircut  for those funding the escrow account?

The word Emmanuel is the Hebrew for 'God is with us'.  For Christians the birth of Jesus is the physical incarnation of this:   Mt:1:23: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Luke:1:26-39: 26: This is made explicit in  Hark the Herald Angel Sing: Glory to God in the ... Jesus our Emmanuel . ...  It is also the the theme of the most beautiful carols: 

Treasury Bills are what the US government uses to borrow money. A T-Bill has always been seen as one of the safest forms of investment because it offers a guaranteed return - barring the complete collapse of the world financial system! WiseGeek   explains how it works: The smallest face value for a T -Bill is $1,000 US Dollars (USD). The T -Bill is sold at a discount, which is determined by the Bureau of Public Debt, but the Treasury pays the full face value when it is redeemed. For example, an investor might purchase a 90-day T -Bill for $900 USD, and earn a $100 USD return on the investment when the T -Bill is redeemed. Unlike many other securities, a T -Bill does not bear interest, but the return on a T -Bill is highly predictable and very stable.  T-Bonds have come to the fore recently as the US Treasury struggles to manage the financial crisis - see here