Petri: If ‘billionaires’ derogatory, what shall we call rich?

Published 1:30 am Saturday, February 9, 2019

By Alexandra Petri

The Washington Post

Howard Schultz’s awkward decision during an interview with CNBC to reframe a derogatory statement about “billionaires” as criticizing “people of means” has earned a fair amount of mockery.

Is “billionaire,” as Schultz suggests, a “catchphrase” now? Should it be avoided in favor of gentler terms? Well, if this is what we’re doing, some further euphemisms follow:

fiscally tinged

wealth-charged

butler-adjacent

silver-spooned

Robin Hood victims

interested parties

trusted

Wall Street urchins

caddied Americans

self-maid men

well-endowed

summerers/winterers

huddled cashes yearning to breathe free

high-bracketed

isle-seated

principaled conservatives

estatesmen

futures farmers of America

deficit-attentive

never-in-the-red staters

gilt-y

Greed New Dealers

dollar storers

Follow Alexandra Petri on Twitter @petridishes.