consumption

Definition

The act of eating, drinking, or using something—basically how humanity's relationship with resources goes downhill. In economics, it's the fuel that keeps capitalism humming; in health, it's the thing your doctor warns you about.

Example Usage

Rising fuel consumption among electric vehicles still lags behind traditional gasoline-powered cars.

Source: Economics and business terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

invest

To throw money, time, or your hopes and dreams at something in the expectation that it will magically multiply rather than disappear into the void. In finance, it's the art of delaying gratification while praying to the gods of compound interest. Pro tip: works better with actual research than pure optimism.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Advanced

push-down accounting

The practice of adjusting a subsidiary's books to reflect the parent company's purchase price allocation, essentially forcing the acquired company to record the acquisition cost on its own books. It's accounting inception.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

Leverage

To use something that already exists rather than building something new, which sounds strategic but usually means "we have no budget." The Swiss Army knife of corporate verbs -- it can mean literally anything.

💼 Corporate / Business💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

Balance Sheet

A financial statement showing what a company owns, what it owes, and the mathematical miracle required to make both sides equal. It's called a balance sheet because it has to balance, which it always does, even if the accountant had to get creative at midnight.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

beneficiary

The lucky person who gets your stuff when you're gone, or whoever's name is on that insurance policy you forgot you had. In estate planning, they're the ones fighting over your belongings at Thanksgiving. In finance and law, they're the designated recipients of money, assets, or benefits from trusts, wills, and policies—basically, someone's getting paid and it's not you.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

matching principle

The accounting concept that expenses should be recorded in the same period as the revenues they helped generate, because timing matters. It's why you can't expense the entire marketing budget in January even though that's when you paid for it.

💰 Finance / Accounting

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Intermediate

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising, assuming your attribution model isn't complete fiction....