Glossary

A ballpark figure 40

a black eye 41

a chance encounter 86

A fall-guy 35

a real guessing game 41

a shoe-in 78

An aficionado 35

an end run 27

an heir apparent 78

At the helm of 79

backlash against 48, 86

bail out 27

bailout 27

base salary rate 65

be drinking the Kool Aid 48

be hard to swallow 48

be off-base 48

bean counter 27

Benchmark 47

beneficiaries 8

bicker 82

blow smoke 48

bonuses based on performance 13

bookkeeping practices 27

boost 86

burning at the stake 27

business communication 12

buzz 28

cashing in 9

clubby 78

cold calls 78

commercial coercion 82

community life 8

community people 18

company's dealings 31

compensation policy 13

compressed ratio 18, 21

contender 78

cookouts 84

coup de grace 78

creative accounting 32

devious 86

do the math 32

donates 11

downturn 27

drive down 12

dupe 86

eked out 50

entrepreneurship 19

Equitable salaries 19

equity award 67

executive salaries 13

facts just don’t add up 32

ferret out 78

financial trickery 48

fogy 25

gambling traders 28

get-togethers 81

gibes6 9

go bankrupt 32

guns and butter 41

had inflated its profits 27

Hoard 39

housing bubble 41

in plain sight 27

INCH DOWN 41

insiders 32

It's a whole new ballgame 40

Jaded 86

kibitz4 9

LEVEL OFF 41

loophole 32

lose one's shirt 40

lure 9

marketing pitches 83

marketing ploy 9, 86

Mediocre 47

memo 12

mete out 27

mogul 35

mystery shoppers 46

Never was heard a discouraging word 34

offshore corporate shells 28

on crack 28

operating performance 66

out of thin air 28

performance incentive awards 67

performance share 67

pitch 87

pivotal 78

play into someone’s hand 86

pluck someone from obscurity 78

plum assignment 78

pretax profits 18

profit margins 67

promote 86

qualify for 69

quarterly returns 28

recruit 17

retention compensation 67

Rogue 35

salary ratio 13

shelf-line 12

shoot for the moon 78

shortfall 69

shred evidence 32

sleight of hand 48

smooth talker 27

sneer at 27

SOAR 41

stealth 86

step down 74

stock options 18

stock ownership requirement 65

subliminal advertising 84

superpremium 6, 7, 11

SURGE IN 41

sweep something under the rug 27

talk it up 85

That old black magic 34

The ball is in your court 40

The Emperor has no clothes 34

To be out in left field 40

To go to bat for someone 40

to keep inflation at a rate 41

To kill the golden goose 35

to navigate the shoals of 79

To pinch hit 40

To play ball 40

to pump up their clout 41

To strike out 40

To throw in the towel 40

To touch base with someone 40

touting 82

trendsetter 85, 86

Trigger 47

Tweaking 41

undercover 86

undercover marketing 83

underperforming unit 69

upturn 27

Ushered into 39

vacated 78

viral marketing 87

weighty issues 11

went south 50

whistle-blower 35

wholesome 11

witch hunt 27

word-of-mouth 86

. The inmates have taken over the asylum 35

Brand.