“Distribute?!?” How About, “Palm Off?”
Dis-tri-bute: 1 : to divide among several or many : apportion
2 a : to spread out so as to cover something: scatter; b : to give out or deliver especially to members of a group. –Merriam-Webster dictionary
According to The New York Times, as early as 2006, “company email messages show Goldman executives discussing ways to get rid of the firm’s positive mortgage positions by selling them to clients. In one message, Goldman’s chief financial officer, Mr. Viniar, wrote, ‘Let’s be aggressive distributing things.'”
No, Goldman Sachs’ definition of “distribute” isn’t the dictionary version, or the meaning you and I associate with the term.
Rather, as used by company executives, it means “palm off on unsuspecting customers.”
