用法学习: 1. be up against it 流年不利, 不顺当, 遭遇困难 informal to be having or likely to have serious problems or difficulties: We‘ve really been up against it this year, trying to keep production up with demand. With seven members of the team missing, Hull are going to be up against it. Many families are up against it, unable to afford even basic items. up against something If you are up against something, you have a very difficult situation or problem to deal with. in a very difficult situation, or with a serious problem to deal with The process could take weeks, but I’m up against a deadline. He was up against fantastic odds – he never stood a chance of winning. The chairperson is up against the greatest challenge to their position. They were up against a good team but did very well. 2. 整容手术: Adria Goldman is assistant professor of communication and digital studies at the University of Mary Washington in the US. She says the term "Blackfishing" describes "an act of cultural appropriation where someone non-Black tries to present themselves as Black". Blackfishing is a criticism that's been levelled at the Kardashians, and other celebrities including Australian singer Iggy Azalea, British singer Rita Ora and American singer Ariana Grande. That could be through darkening their skin, adopting an Afro-centric hairstyle, or getting a more voluptuous ( voluptuous [vəˈlʌptʃuəs] I. = curvaceous a voluptuous woman has a large curved body and is sexually attractive. If you describe a woman as voluptuous, you mean that she has large breasts and hips and is considered attractive in a sexual way. ...a voluptuous, well-rounded lady with glossy black hair. a voluptuous blonde. voluptuous curves. II. suggesting or expressing a strong sexual desire. slow voluptuous caresses. III. literary a voluptuous taste, smell, etc. affects your senses in a strong and pleasant way. Something that is voluptuous gives you pleasure from the rich way it is experienced through your senses. The cheese has a mild, soft, voluptuous flavour. The leopard looks voluptuously strokable. ...flowers that have the fluffy voluptuousness of cotton wool. the voluptuous scent of roses. ) shape, through photo editing or even butt augmentation 丰臀. "A person can appropriate Black culture and say that"their intention was not to do harm — but appropriating Black culture does do harm," she says. It can reinforce "surface level" or "misinformed" ideas about Black culture. "It's commodifying ( commodify [kəˈmɑdɪˌfaɪ] 商业化, 商品化 to treat something as a commodity to be bought and sold, especially something that has a value which is not just financial. to treat (something) inappropriately as if it can be acquired or marketed like other commodities you can't commodify art. They seek to privatize and commodify all elements of the economy and society. Hip-hop culture was quickly commodified by the entertainment industry. ) this culture with no gain to Black people." By the end of high school, she had endured years of teasing about her looks. Yet, at the same time, reality TV was demonstrating that appearance isn't fixed 不是固定不变的. "I started realising, oh wow, things can be changed," Natasha says. The criticism levelled at those who undergo cosmetic surgery to modify their cultural features 文化特征 is one that philosopher and physician Yves Saint James Aquino is familiar with. He has studied the ethics of cosmetic enhancement, specifically blepharoplasty ( blepharoplasty [ˈblɛf(ə)rə(ʊ)ˌplasti] surgical repair or reconstruction of an eyelid. ) or double eyelid surgery, a procedure that is most popular in South East Asia. 3. McGowan has made a virtue out of his economic management, reasonably pointing to the restraint he showed in the early days of government from 2017. But crowing about ( crow [kroʊ] I. [informal, disapproval] 沾沾自喜. 洋洋得意. 吹嘘. to talk very proudly about something that you have done, especially when you have defeated someone. If you say that someone is crowing about something they have achieved or are pleased about, you disapprove of them because they keep telling people proudly about it. Edwards is already crowing about his assured victory. We've seen them all crowing that the movement is dead. II. 公鸡打鸣. When a cock crows, it makes a loud sound, often early in the morning. The cock crows and the dawn chorus begins. III. If someone crows, they make happy sounds or say something happily. She was crowing with delight. 'I'm not sure I've ever driven a better lap,' crowed a delighted Irvine. ) WA's world-beating financial performance also masks a more fragile reality – that without China's largesse ( largesse [lɑrˈdʒes] = largess 慷慨解囊 I. uncountable generous acts of giving presents or money to a large number of people. II. countable money or presents given to a large number of people. Largesse is a generous gift of money or a generous act of kindness. ...grateful recipients of their largesse. ...his most recent act of largesse. ), the west is hopelessly exposed to a single, capricious market. 4. a laundry list of 一长串的, 很多的 a long or exhaustive list of people or things. "a laundry list of people and organizations that would have to be won over". If you describe something as a laundry list of things, you mean that it is a long list of them. ...a laundry list of reasons why shareholders should reject the bid. kit and caboodle 所有的, 完完全全的, 每一个 informal (often prec. by whole) the whole lot of persons or things; all of something. Everything, every part. a number of things considered as a unit They brought the whole kit and caboodle to the picnic lunch. We took along the whole kit and caboodle in the station wagon. He packed up all his gear, the whole kit and caboodle, and walked out. This expression is a redundancy, for kit has meant "a collection or group" since the mid-1700s (though this meaning survives only in the full idiom today), and caboodle has been used with the same meaning since the 1840s. In fact caboodle is thought to be a corruption of the phrase kit and boodle, another redundant phrase, since boodle also meant "a collection." a. a number of things considered as a unit. b. a usually small number of persons considered as a unit The whole kit and caboodle showed up to the retirement party. c. a complete amount of something It was all there, the whole kit and caboodle.
TBBT: Howard: Well, since you find my magic tricks so embarrassing, I got to wondering ( get to something I. to reach something physically. I couldn't get to the telephone in time. I got to him just in time to help him. II. Fig. to arrive at a topic of discussion. Money? We will get to that in a minute. We will get to the question of where your office will be after we discuss whether you are hired or not. III. Fig. to start on [doing] something; to begin doing something. I'll get to it as soon as possible. Have you managed to get to my repair job yet? Your complaining is getting to bother me. get to doing something: start to do something Before you get to cleaning the kitchen, let me ask you this question, and then I will leave you alone to finish your task. get to do sth: "permitted to go out." or have the opptunity to do sth Before you get to go out with your friends, your mother insists that your room be tidy. ) what cool hobbies you had as a kid. Bernadette: Oh. What'd she say? Howard: She didn't say much of anything. But she said a lot. (Through ventriloquist's doll ( ventriloquist [venˈtrɪləkwɪst] an entertainer who can speak without moving his or her lips, especially one who makes a model, person, or animal appear to talk. He looked like a ventriloquist's dummy. )) Hi, Bernadette, remember me? Bernadette: First of all, that's not what she sounds like, she's from South Carolina. Howard: I can't believe you made fun of me all these years while you were a closeted ventriloquist. Bernadette: Okay, it's not like I wanted to be a ventriloquist. I was in beauty pageants and I needed a talent besides spreading rumours that the other contestants were pregnant. Howard: Well, since you enjoyed getting rid of all my stuff, you know, maybe we should throw this little lady in the wood chipper. Bernadette: No. And the little lady has a name. Howard: Which is? Bernadette: Tammy Jo St. Cloud. Howard: Tammy Jo St. Cloud. Oh, and I'm a dork for juggling 土老帽(A quirky, silly and/or stupid, socially inept person, or one who is out of touch with contemporary trends. Often confused with nerd and geek, but does not imply the same level of intelligence.). Bernadette: Sorry, you're not a dork. (Through doll) You're a clown. (Bernadette) Tammy Jo, don't say that, you'll make him feel bad. (Doll) Look at him, what reason he got to feel good? Howard: All right, very funny. Bernadette: Don't listen to her, she's been in a box for, like, 25 years. (Doll) Yeah, back when his haircut was fashionable. Howard: That's enough, put her away. Bernadette (as Doll): Oh, big daddy, I don't think so. You marry Miss Bernie, you marry me. We all family now. Howard: All right, you're freaking me out. Bernadette (as Doll): Don't be that way. If you don't mind a few splinters, we can have us a ménage à trois. Ooh. TBBT: Howard: I missed you. Bernadette: Come here, let's talk. Howard: Ooh. Sounds serious. Have I been a bad boy? Am I gonna get a spanking 'cause you know. Bernadette: Just listen. I don't know if you realize this, but whenever you're between projects, you tend to 容易变得 get a little insecure. Howard: Oh. Bernadette: A little clingy. Howard: I know and I'm sorry. Bernadette: Oh, oh, oh, okay, stop. Stop. I love when you're affectionate, but this is not coming from a good place( come from a good place 动机是好的, 意图是好的, 是好意 To be motivated by decency, kindness, or good intentions. To have or be motivated by good or altruistic intentions, even if the results or consequences are undesirable. I know that you're coming from a good place, but please stop trying to set me up on dates with people you know. Most diet fads come from a good place originally, before being distorted into something totally ludicrous. ). Howard: Well, excuse me, but what did you do when you worked on that allergy drug for two years and the FDA shut down your project? Bernadette: I signed us up for ballroom dance class. TBBT: Computer Voice: Leonard Hofstadter. Access granted. Leonard: Hmm. I don't care if this thing is burning out my retinas, it makes me feel special. Now, before we field test, I think we… Howard: What the hell? Leonard: Where is everything? Sheldon: Who else has access to this room? Leonard: It's a secure lab in a classified facility, only the U.S. government and us. Sheldon: This is disconcerting ( disconcerting causing one to feel unsettled. making you feel worried, confused, or surprised. If you say that something is disconcerting, you mean that it makes you feel anxious, confused, or embarrassed. The reception desk is not at street level, which is a little disconcerting. She looks disconcertingly like a familiar aunt or grandmother. At times she could be almost disconcertingly absent-minded. a disconcerting habit/tendency. "he had a disconcerting habit of offering jobs to people he met at dinner parties"). Howard: But the movie did just get good.
Love Victor: 1. Charlie. Hi-yee! I don't know why I just said "hi" like that. I'm nervous. It's fine. Nice to meet you. Yeah. You look just like your pics, thank God. A lot of people use those ring light things that make their pores disappear, and they end up looking like hideous monsters in real life, but you don't. So, drop that skincare routine, sis! Thanks. Thank you. What's good here 有什么好吃的, 有什么好喝的? Ah, well, the chili mocha latte is my personal obsesh. She's serving spicy, she's serving sweet. You need her in your life. "Her" as in the, the coffee? Uh, why don't you order, and I'll grab us a table 找个桌子? Hey, um... Sorry. Uh... You're, you're just different from how I pictured. What do you mean? No, I just... Like the... The way you talk. And like, the way you... are. Sorry, I... I tend to go for 喜欢什么样的人 guys who are a bit more masculine? No offense. Oh. CHARLIE: Yeah. It's just my preference. RAHIM: Yeah. No, if you're not into it, you're not into it. 2. "I bet Victor finally has his shit together." But Simon, my shit is not together. My shit is... Well, it's shit. Benji wants to take a break from us. We've been far from perfect lately, but I thought we were strong enough to get through anything. And now, I'm not so sure. 3. Ah, not that way 不要走那边, 不要走那条路. That's where Mrs. Potemkin goes to chain smoke and cry about her dead marriage. I should teach a master class on skipping school. Although, I'd probably skip that, too. So, wait, how do you not get in trouble? Doesn't the school call your parents? Nope. I just email the school office saying it's some made up Muslim holiday. None of those old ladies in admin want to go down for religious perse-cush. 4. If you're wondering how he gets his hair that perfect, there isn't a pomade ( Pomade or pomatum 发蜡 is a greasy, waxy, or water-based substance that is used to style hair. Pomade generally gives the user's hair a shiny and slick appearance. It lasts longer than most hair-care products, and often requires multiple washes for complete removal.) in the world that can do that for you. Should we shave his head in his sleep and make a wig? We could share it. Okay, that was funny. Are you okay? Benji and I are taking a break. It was his choice. What? Why? I don't know. A lot of things. I mean, he wasn't too thrilled that 没有很高兴 I told you that he was in AA. Oh, no! I, I didn't tell anyone, I swear. No, no, no. I know, and it's, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have told you. But it's not just that. We've been fighting about everything lately. He says he needs some time to figure out if we still make sense. And now I just have to sit next to him in pre-calc and pretend like I'm not dying inside. How are you supposed to learn complex math while having gay relationship drama? Yeah, high school is demented ( I. Someone who is demented has a severe mental illness, especially Alzheimer's disease. II. [informal, disapproval] behaving in a strange, stupid, or crazy way. If you describe someone as demented, you think that their actions are strange, foolish, or uncontrolled. Sid broke into demented laughter. ). Hey, what do you say we get out of here? What do you mean? Like, skip school? Scandalous, I know, but it kind of works out for me, too. I have this test in third period, and I did not finish Lord of the Flies. Who knew a bunch of hot British boys getting stranded on an island could be so boring? You're right. Let's get out of here. But let's be stealthy [ˈstelθi] 偷偷地, 悄悄地 about it(quiet and secret so that no one sees or hears you. Stealthy actions or movements are performed quietly and carefully, so that no one will notice what you are doing. I would creep in and with stealthy footsteps explore the second-floor. It was a stealthy sound made by someone anxious not to be heard. Slowly and stealthily, someone was creeping up the stairs. stealth [stelθ] a quiet and secret way of behaving so that no one sees or hears you. stealth hit a film, TV show, etc. that is unexpectedly successful I can't give away too much more of the plot without revealing spoilers, but I think it's a stealth hit in the making. Amazon's stealth-hit comedy about the adventures of a well-to-do Jewish housewife turned outrageous standup comedian. stealth startup a startup company that limits information about itself for a period, for example in order to hide information from competitors Privacy Labs is a stealth-stage startup that wants to enable internet users to "regain control" of their personal data.). I don't want to get in trouble. Then fix your face and unclench 夹屁股 your butt cheeks, 'cause you look like you just m*rder your family, embezzled 侵吞 your inheritance, and started over in Boca Raton. I watch a lot of true crime. 5. I never would have pegged you as 从没有想到, 从来没有归类为 the "cutting class" type. Hey. Don't judge a book by it's extremely chic cover. It's just sometimes I feel like all these Creekwood kids are living in their happy little bubbles, and I'm not like any of them. Sometimes I feel outside of it all 置身事外. And when that happens, I need to get out from under the tragic fluorescent lighting and breathe. But today's your day to breathe. So, what do you want to do? I don't know. I can't stop thinking about Benji. I mean, we were supposed to go to Mia's dad's wedding this weekend. 6. Victor, why aren't you in school? That, that would be my fault, Mr. Salazar. I had to miss school today for the Muslim Festival of a Thousand Pistachios. Very sacred 非常神圣的. Uh, Victor had a free period( free period 没课 I. British English a period of time in a school day when a student does not have a class. a division of the academic day during which no lesson is scheduled I used to write poetry during my free periods at school. II. 得空. 有空闲. a portion of time during which there is little or no activity I'm just glad we have a free period over the next 10 days. ), and he was kind enough to bring me my homework so I wouldn't fall behind 落后, 落下太多. 7. Okay, what am I eating, and why haven't I had it before? It's Tahchin. A crispy rice cake, with chicken. Anytime I'm in my feels ( feels Feelings, emotions. intense feelings, especially good ones. Cute puppy dogs, a bad break-up, some really good pizza: These things give us all the feels. The slang term describes an overwhelming emotional reaction, often with a humorous tone in the phrase all the feels. The ending was especially powerful and the musical score had me feeling all the feels! I have so many feels for this book. in one's feels 心情低落, 情绪低落, 心情不好, 不愉快, 不开心的时候 I. overreacting, getting mad over something. II. distracted by one's (usually morose) feelings I'm sorry I didn't call you back last night. I was in my feelings. When something brings you deep into your emotions. Dang man that music gets me deep I to my emotions (in my feels). morose [məˈroʊs] feeling unhappy, in a bad mood, and not wanting to talk to anyone. Someone who is morose is miserable, bad-tempered, and not willing to talk very much to other people. She was morose, pale, and reticent. One elderly man sat morosely at the bar. ), I have to have that. It kind of reminds me of my mom's arroz con pollo. She used to make it every Sunday after church. Used to? Well, now that she and my dad are separated... Oh, yeah. How are things going with that, by the way? I don't know. It's on the long list of things that we don't talk about. What about you? How are things with your parents? Actually... Remember when I told you I didn't finish Lord of the Flies last night? It's 'cause I was coming out to my parents. What? Rahim! Why didn't you tell me before? I don't know. You were so bummed 情绪低落 about Benji, and I didn't want to make today about me. So, how did you do it? This is humiliating, but I wrote everything I wanted to say on a notecard, because I knew once I took it out, I wouldn't be able to bail. And I didn't. I read it to them, and they sat there for what felt like six years, and my, my dad said, "I'm really happy you finally told us." Wait. They were glad that you "finally" told them? Okay, so apparently, my mom had discovered my internet search history when I was twelve, and saw that I had been Googling "Tom Holland" plus "penis." 8. Okay, why do you keep grinning 傻笑 at your phone like that? Did Tom Holland slide into your DMs? No! Okay? It's just this guy Charlie I've been talking to on one of those apps. You know which one. Well, let me see. Wait. Are all these headless torsos in Atlanta? This is just guys nearby. Turns out there's a ton of gay fish in the online sea. And all the fish claim to have inch dicks. Yeah, all the fish kind of lie. Like when Charlie and I started talking, we both said we were twenty-two. But turns out he's a senior at Thadwick Academy. Thadwick? Mm-hmm. Damn. Your boyfriend's bougie ( bougie = boujee 小资产阶级 adj. showing a lot of concern with money and possessions; an adaptation of bourgeois. Sweetgreen has all the bougie accoutrements that appeal to the young, conscientious set. bourgeois [bʊrˈʒwɑ] showing disapproval I. typical of middle-class people and their attitudes. This word often shows that you dislike people like this, especially because you think they are too interested in money and possessions and in being socially respected. She despised her parents' bourgeois lifestyle. bourgeois notions of good taste. II. belonging to the class of people who are educated and own property, according to Marxist ideas. petit bourgeois ]ˌpeti ˈbʊrʒwɑ] showing disapproval relating to or belonging to lower middle-class society, considered to consist of people such as the owners of small businesses. This word shows that you dislike people like this, especially because you think they are too interested in money and possessions and in being socially respected. ). He's not my boyfriend, okay? We, we haven't even met. We just text a lot. And send the occasional mildly scandalous pic. You should ask him if he wants to meet up. What, like now? You said I get to pick what we do today, and this is what I pick. I can't believe I'm actually gonna do this. I feel a pimple starting on my chin, and this isn't even one of my top-tier outfits 最好的装扮. Well, lucky for you, we're in a spa. Linda, Michelle, give him the works. I have $ in my wallet. 9. Do you think your parents should get back together? Like, do you think that they're right for each other? I don't know. I mean, last year, they were constantly fighting. And sometimes I just wished they'd get the hell away from each other and give us all a break. Before that... They were pretty magic together. I mean, they were our age when they started dating. But maybe that's part of the problem. You know, like... what are the odds that the first person you date is the person you're supposed to end up with? Okay, I don't care what your dad says. We're not going back to school. It's time to turn the self-care up to an eleven ( up to eleven (idiomatic) Beyond the maximum possible threshold. To an intense, excessive, or extreme degree; at or beyond the maximum amount or normal threshold. (Coined in the 1984 comedy film This is Spinal Tap, referring to the guitar player's amplifier going to eleven, as opposed to the traditional limit of ten.) Some of the best nights we had when we were teenagers were spent just driving aimlessly, cranking the car stereo up to eleven. Whenever our parents' fighting got up to eleven, my sister and I made ourselves scarce. verb. (slang, transitive) To increase to an extreme degree; to make (something) go over the top. Etymology: First attested (in the form pull it back to eleven, referring to the eleven-position throttle of the powerful Chesapeake and Ohio class M-1 locomotive) in 1947, but popularized by a scene in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap (1984), in which a musician shows off a guitar amplifier with setting knobs that go from zero to eleven, rather than the standard zero to ten. wiki: "Up to eleven", also phrased as "these go to eleven", is an idiom from popular culture, coined in the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, where guitarist Nigel Tufnel demonstrates an amplifier whose volume knobs are marked from zero to eleven, instead of the usual zero to ten. The primary implication of the reference is one in which things that are essentially the same are seen as different, due to mislabeling or the user's misunderstanding of the underlying operating principles. A secondary reference may be anything being exploited to its utmost limits, or apparently exceeding them. up the yin-yang To an excessive or extreme degree; in great or excessive abundance. The company's had financial difficulties up the yin-yang lately, but the CEO is adamant that it will start making a profit soon. I only buy video game consoles after they've been out a while and stores aren't charging up the yin-yang for them. ). VICTOR: You know, I've never actually had a pedicure before. You're acting like this is news, but those hooves are rough. Linda, Michelle, the number special, please. "Oh oh aubergine ( aubergine [ˈoʊbərʒin] I. an eggplant. II. a dark purple color. address in aubergine and pale pink. The aubergine walls are just the first shot of color in this building. III. emoji a long purple eggplant with a green stem. )" for me, and "clear" for my very wild friend over here. 10. RAHIM: Okay, you sure you don't mind being here? No. Benji's not working today. And plus, I know where we keep the pepper spray in case Charlie turns out to be a sixty-year-old m*rder whose kink is decapitating high school students with a box cutter 美工刀. Do you think you're the only person that watches true crime? 11. I'm so embarrassed. I can't believe you just saw that. No, he should be embarrassed. What a dick. No. I, I get it. If he's into "masc" guys or whatever, I'm never gonna be that. I'm wearing lavender suede. Okay, first off, that jacket is fire, and you know it. And secondly, don't let one stupid boy ruin what's great about you. Except it's not just one stupid boy. You know, a lot of people see me as just this funny, fruity ( I. a fruity voice or laugh is deep and strong in a pleasant way. A fruity voice or laugh is pleasantly rich and deep. Jerrold laughed again, a solid, fruity laugh. II. British informal dealing with sex in a humorous or slightly shocking way. ) beanpole 傻大个, 高个子, and nothing else. All right, that's bullshit. You're tall, you're smart, you're super handsome... Super handsome? Stop. I'm just saying that objectively 客观的, you're a very good looking guy. Okay. Okay, this is the content I signed up for 我要的. Can you start an OnlyFans where it's just you complimenting me? Maybe in an ASMR whisper voice? I'm trying to tell you something. You're a catch, Rahim. And, uh, if we went to a gay bar, you would totally clean up 非常受欢迎. Well. I'm pretty sure you would clean up at a gay bar, too. If you were single. Which you're not. Because things are gonna work out between you and Benji. Maybe. Or maybe not. It's just my mom. Oh. Sorry. You know what? Why don't we go to a gay bar? Really? I don't have, like, an ID or anything. So? I went to one in New York, and they never even checked. 12. I don't have any master plan. I just figured we could wing it. That's fine. I mean... Is this an ambush? Because I already said I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Uh, well, do you have any questions? Yeah. Why was Mia your girlfriend if you're gay? Uh... good question. I was still figuring some stuff out. Sometimes people don't know what they like until they try it. 13. um, my mom wants me to visit her at the hospital after school today. That's good news, right? Yeah. Yeah, no, I... I guess. It's just, um, I don't know what I'm walking into. A few days ago your mom didn't want to see anyone, and now she's asking you to visit. I think that's a good sign. Hey, you know, um... between my mom and the breakup, this week has been hell. But last night was like, more fun than I had in like... forever.
'Evil genius' may have caused Terra and Luna cryptocurrencies to crash in a 'death spiral': A plunge in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, has been exacerbated by the Luna and Terra stablecoin crash. It's been a stressful week for those who own bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as they watched billions of dollars get wiped off the value of their assets. Bitcoin (which has often been touted as "digital gold" or a "hedge against inflation") plunged below $US25,500 this week — a far cry from the record high $US69,000 price tag it commanded back in November. The wider crypto market (which includes thousands of digital currencies and tokens) has seen its value plunge by more than 50 per cent since then. Lately, people have been dumping their riskier, speculative assets like crypto, tech stocks, and shares in companies which are still in their "growth" phase (and not paying dividends). It comes as the US Federal Reserve (and central banks globally) hike interest rates aggressively — and remove trillions of dollars worth of COVID-19 stimulus, in a desperate bid to keep a lid on decades-high inflation. Apart from those "big picture" economic factors, analysts say the crash of the TerraUSD "stablecoin" (or UST) — and its potential contagion effect 传染效应, 连锁反应 ( contagion [kənˈteɪdʒən] I. uncountable medical a situation in which a disease can be spread from one person or animal to another through touch or through the air. II. countable medical a disease that can be spread from one person to another through touch or through the air. III. [disapproval] singular formal a situation in which feelings or ideas spread very quickly from one person or place to another. You can use contagion to refer to the spreading of ideas, or attitudes, or feelings that you consider to be bad or unacceptable from one group of people to another. He continues to insulate his country from the contagion of foreign ideas. IV. the spread of financial failure from one country to another. ) — was the main reason behind this week's cryptocurrency sell-off 抛售. Stablecoins like UST, Tether and USDC are like bank accounts for the crypto ecosystem, and their value is usually pegged to fiat currencies ( Fiat money is a government-issued currency that is not backed by a commodity such as gold. Fiat money gives central banks greater control over the economy because they can control how much money is printed. Most modern paper currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, are fiat currencies. wiki: Fiat money (from Latin: fiat, "let it be done") is a type of currency that is not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver, and typically declared by a decree from the government to be legal tender. Throughout history, fiat money was sometimes issued by local banks and other institutions. In modern times, fiat money is generally established by government regulation. Fiat money generally does not have intrinsic value and does not have use value. It has value only because the individuals who use it as a unit of account – or, in the case of currency, a medium of exchange – agree on its value. They trust that it will be accepted by merchants and other people. Fiat money is an alternative to commodity money, which is a currency that has intrinsic value, for example because it contains a precious metal such as gold or silver which is embedded in the coin. Fiat also differs from representative money, which is money that has intrinsic value because it is backed by and can be converted into a precious metal or another commodity. Fiat money can look similar to representative money (such as paper bills), but the former has no backing, while the latter represents a claim on a commodity (which can be redeemed to a greater or lesser extent). fiat [ˈfiət] an official order from a person or group in authority. by fiat 有授权的, 得到授权的: If something is done by fiat, it is done because of an official order given by someone in authority. He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat. A government cannot mandate by fiat a feeling of unity in its citizens. He claimed to have fiat power to override orders by state governors. ) like the US dollar (on 1:1 basis). In theory, they're meant to have a fixed value (around $US1) so they can be a reliable store of value — in contrast to the extreme volatility of bitcoin, ethereum and others. Terra was one of the world's most valuable (and stable) digital currencies. But on Tuesday, a huge sell-off occurred as the value of the Terra stablecoin suddenly "unpegged" from the US dollar. Its value plunged from $US1 (where it was always meant to remain) to 60 US cents. Then it crashed again on Wednesday, bringing its value down to 20 US cents. It was the equivalent of a crypto "bank run", as people rushed to pull their money out. Most stablecoins are backed by cash reserves, and they're supposed to have enough liquid assets on hand to match the value of each coin. However, Terra (UST) is an "algorithmic" stablecoin — whose value is backed by a "sister" token called Luna, which is run on pre-programmed "smart contracts". (Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have surged to dizzying heights since their creation amid the global financial crisis. We explain what's driving this, along with the pros and cons). When Terra dips below $US1, it can be swapped for Luna tokens (at a small profit). In theory, that's meant to keep the value of both stable. It's basically like printing money out of thin air, through a complex mix of "smart contracts" — to make sure the value of each UST token stays as close as possible to $US1. But the problem was that these complex algorithms somehow failed spectacularly. Luna somehow crashed at the same time as UST, in what has been described by analysts as a "death spiral". Essentially, investors rushed to liquidate their digital assets quicker than the "algorithmic" stabiliser could take effect. The price of the "sister" token dropped from about $US86 at the start of this week, to just over 6 US cents on Thursday (which works out to be a 99 per cent fall, in a very short amount of time). Investors suffered unprecedented losses as Luna's market value plummeted from $US40 billion to about $US500 million, which led to a sell-off and crisis of confidence across the wider cryptocurrency market. How did the 'evil genius' plot unfold? Nobody knows who caused the price of Terra and Luna to crash. But many on social media are pointing the blame at the big US hedge funds, given the massive trades involved. Two firms, Citadel Securities and BlackRock, have already issued statements denying any involvement in Terra's crash. "We don't know if the momentum was created by collusion [between hedge funds]," said Lisa Wade, the CEO of blockchain company DigitalX. "Conspiracy theorists would say 'yes', because it's a massive trade. I mean, in all of my career, it's one of the biggest trades that I've seen," she told ABC's The Business. "It's almost like an evil genius plot, because there are a lot of steps to it." Ms Wade said, as part of this complex plot, the buyers appear to have purchased around $1 billion worth of UST stablecoins, while "shorting" bitcoin (which is a risky way to make money, by betting on the price of an asset falling — instead of rising). "What they did next was they timed the market. "So obviously we're in a really volatile risk-off 规避风险 stage ( The term “risk off” is used to describe the risk sentiment where traders and investors in the financial market reduce their exposure to risk and focus on protecting their capital. ) of the market — because of everything that's been happening with the [US] Fed and the macro environment. "They waited until a Saturday night when [trading] volumes were very low, and there were no bids. "And then they went into a trading pool and started selling UST in massive volumes, which then triggered all of the subsequent selling in a low-volume market that broke the [US dollar] peg. "Inside the algorithm was what our team had identified as a 'death spiral' ... the selling starts to feed on itself from the mechanics of the algorithm. "So when the death spiral kicked in ... the algorithm started selling Bitcoin and Avalanche [another cryptocurrency], which triggers more selling. "Luna was impacted because it's the underlying [backer] of the UST. So every time a UST [token] is bought, a Luna [token] is burnt, which means there's less tokens in supply, so the Luna price goes up. "The reverse applies when people start selling. So every time someone sells a UST, they mint a Luna, which means there's more volume. "And if there's no buyers and the price goes down, then it starts to feed on itself, because people start panicking and selling Luna. "This was an exploitative trade that took advantage of the fact that markets are weaker. The perfect storm was nobody stepping up to buy the bitcoin and the UST". Unfortunately, there is a human cost to the failure of the Terra stablecoin. "What upsets me is that I can look at it through a trader's lens and be clinical and analyse the trade," Ms Wade said. "However, on the other side of that are mums and dads. "The reason why UST was worth $US18 billion was because it was backed by a savings pool. "That savings pool was offering 20 per cent returns. So lots of innocent people had their money saved up in their thinking they were getting risk-free deposits." While Ms Wade said this kind of trading wasn't illegal, the ethics of it were "questionable", and she believes it will likely lead to regulation in the crypto markets being fast-tracked. Terra's backers are currently trying to raise about $US1.5 billion to boost the value of the stablecoin, and restore its parity with the US dollar — with little success so far. But the concern amongst anxious investors is that: if the value of a supposedly "stable" digital asset can be wiped out so easily in a few days, who else is next in the crypto firing line?
