corporate welfare bum
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.62 in modern English
33
Scrabble Score
19
Letters
4
Syllables
13
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A business corporation or business executive receiving significant financial assistance from government sources.
Canadian usage; Derogatory
Example Sentences
- "[A]nother $8 million went to keep alive Quebecair, a corporate welfare bum if ever there was one."
- "Meanwhile: every telecomm company is as big a corporate welfare bum as you could ask for."
- "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."
- "Corporate welfare bum Bombardier is already demanding a billion more dollars in corporate bailouts from Trudeau’s Liberals."
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.