corporate welfare bum en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Coined in 1972 by Canadian labor leader and politician David Lewis (1909-1981). The term postdates welfare bum: it represents a blend of corporate welfare + welfare bum.
Meanings
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(Canada, derogatory, idiomatic) A business corporation or business executive receiving significant financial assistance from government sources.
Meanwhile: every telecomm company is as big a corporate welfare bum as you could ask for.
2011, Cory Doctorow, Context, →ISBN, page 113:Corporate welfare bum Bombardier is already demanding a billion more dollars in corporate bailouts from Trudeau’s Liberals.
2015 Nov. 4, Ezra Levant, "Liberal conundrum: Side with their anti-airport Toronto MPs? Or “corporate welfare bum” Bombardier?," ezralevant.com (Canada), (retrieved 9 Nov 2015)[A]nother $8 million went to keep alive Quebecair, a corporate welfare bum if ever there was one.
1983 April 29, "End welfare dithering," Montreal Gazette (Canada), p. B-2 (retrieved 9 Nov 2015)Elon Musk . . . is also — and this you read less about — a serial, almost kleptomaniacal, corporate welfare bum whose greatest talent seems to be sucking at the U.S. government’s teat for personal gain and glory.
2015 May 11, David Booth, “The Tesla secret Elon Musk doesn’t want you to know”, in Driving, Canada, retrieved 09 Nov 2015:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| corporate welfare bums | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
zombie company · zombie bank · zombie economy
wikipedia: David Lewis (politician) · wikipedia: Peter Desbarats