Ten-Dollar Finance Words

Ten-Dollar Finance Words

From Thoughts On Money [TOM] by Trevor Cummings

May 1, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

Trevor Cummings discusses financial jargon and its implications with guests Blaine Carver and Brett Bonecutter.

This week's blogpost - https://bahnsen.co/4tJyhFD Trevor Cummings hosts a “Thoughts on Money” podcast episode with Blaine Carver and Brett Bonecutter, discussing Brett’s lighthearted blog post “$10 Finance Words” and how financial jargon can confuse or impress audiences. They contrast unavoidable shorthand with performative buzzwords, share pet peeves (like “curated,” “circle back,” and “HBD”), and emphasize knowing your audience and translating terms for clients. Brett explains meanings and pitfalls of terms such as EBITDA (including WeWork’s “community adjusted EBITDA”), fungible vs. non-fungible, and deal jargon like cap stack, mezzanine financing, and waterfalls, plus corporate euphemisms like “right-sizing” and the sometimes-deceptive use of “leverage.” They close with jokes about pop-culture references, slang, and invite listener emails and podcast ratings. 00:00 Welcome And Setup 01:26 Why Finance Jargon 06:39 Words And Pet Peeves 10:25 EBITDA Explained 17:30 Snooty Language Signals 18:34 Gray Poupon Reference 20:16 Fungible And NFTs 23:22 Capital Stack Basics 26:05 Euphemisms That Stick 26:26 Right Sizing Explained 27:17 Idioms Across Cultures 28:43 Leverage Versus Debt…

People in this episode

Host: Trevor Cummings

Guests: Blaine Carver, Brett Bonecutter

Topics covered

  • finance jargon
  • buzzwords
  • EBITDA
  • pet peeves
  • corporate euphemisms
  • audience understanding

Keywords

  • finance jargon
  • EBITDA
  • buzzwords
  • corporate euphemisms
  • audience understanding
  • pet peeves
  • fungible
  • non-fungible

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: WeWork, Thoughts on Money, The Bahnsen Group

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