amortization

This word has, by some, been misread as amateurization. And well may it be so: getting debt away from the professionals, if gradually. This is a complex word with an interesting mix of flavours. It has five syllables, but why should a word for such a long process be short? It begins with amor, and while it does conquer all, there’s often little love involved. The mort is more to the point, especially if the payments are too high, and you get into a tiz. The ation simply marks it as a noun, that overwhelmingly favoured word class in business documents. But francophones will appreciate the ti…ti, for indeed amortization involves a little here and a little there. One just hopes the o…o doesn’t gain significance. And where do we get this word? Via French from Latin ad “to” plus mortem “death”… the death of the loan, we hope.