the.com/leverage
the polite name for the threat you never have to make out loud.
means The power or advantage you can use to get the result you want — and, as a verb, to put that advantage to work.
from From 'lever,' the simple machine that lets a small push move a heavy load, which came through Old French 'levier' from Latin 'levare,' to raise or lighten (a cousin of 'levity' and 'elevate'). 'Leverage' first meant the literal mechanical action and force of a lever; the figurative sense — advantage, influence, borrowed power — grew from that image of a small effort moving a great weight. The financial meaning (using borrowed money to amplify gains) is a later, American-flavored extension of the same idea.
- archimedes
- Claimed he could move Earth with a long enough lever.
- banks love it
- Borrowed money multiplied gains, then erased them in 2008.
- physics
- Trades distance for force, never something for nothing.
- negotiation
- Whoever needs the deal less holds it.
- verb-ified
- Executives turned a fulcrum into a buzzword.
archimedes screw — ancient water-lifting machine demonstrating mechanical advantage, described by archimedes around 250 bce
crowbar — tool used to pry open objects, relies on fulcrum point to amplify human force by 3-5x
financial leverage — 2008 financial crisis caused by excessive debt leverage in us mortgage market, multiplying losses by 10x+