Idiomatic Glossary

Aggregate: all of “something”; the total. For example, “aggregate sales” means “total sales”.   43

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE): a brain disease in cows sometimes called “mad cow disease”. If people eat cows that have BSE, they may get very sick and can die.  69

Calculation: the steps you take in mathematics to find an answer.  44

Characterized (by): defined by a list of descriptions that show what something is. For example, democracy is characterized by free elections. In other words, having free elections makes a country a democracy.  67

Collaboration: people working together to achieve a common goal.  62

Cyclical: when something repeats itself in a pattern. For example, the seasons (winter, spring, summer, and fall) are cyclical. In other words, they repeat in a pattern.  49

Deficit: When a government spends more money than it has, it creates a deficit. The deficit is the amount of money the government spent that it didn’t have.  46

Fiscal: things that have to do with money or finance. For example, a company’s fiscal policy is the set of rules it has for managing money.  50

Hub-and-spoke system: a way of organizing airline flights based around major cities. Hubs and spokes refer to wheels. The hub is the centre and the spokes connect the hub to the outside. In a hub-and-spoke system, the major cities are the hubs and the routes the airplanes take to nearby smaller cities are the spokes.  40

No-frills: Frills are luxuries (extra things we don’t really need) such as elegant meals and popular movies on an airplane flight. No-frills means no-luxuries. Customers pay more for luxuries, so no-frills leads to lower prices.  39

Pharmaceuticals: medicines (e.g., aspirin or Tylenol™).  55

Publicized: announced to the public.  69

Rivalries: strong competitions.  62

Satellite Based: a system where products are stored in a large central location for a short time and then sent out to many stores. Products are constantly and quickly moving out of the main location to the stores.  62

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS): a very dangerous infection of the body’s breathing system that can kill you.  39

Skyrocketing: increasing very quickly.  40

Socio-cultural: things influenced by specific social and cultural situations.  59

Stakeholders: people who are connected to and have a personal interest in an organization because the organization affects them. For example, employees are stakeholders in the company where they work because what happens in that company affects their jobs.  60

Terrorist: a person who uses acts of extreme violence to make people afraid and then uses this fear to negotiate political goals.  39

Viral: like a virus. In biology, a virus is a very small, living thing that copies itself and spreads quickly. HIV is a virus. Sometimes things that are not alive copy themselves and spread quickly (e.g., computer viruses). Computer viruses and most biological viruses are bad, but when information spreads quickly in viral marketing it is useful.  66