Pun-a-palooza

I think the folks over at Merriam-Webster are getting a little out of hand because it is just plain ole punny over there today. Today's word is fire-sale. As in heavily discounted. The best part of the word of the day email was the pun-a-licious explanation of where the word "fire-sale" comes from. The explanation reads:

The term “fire sale” flared up in the late-19th century as the name for a sale of items damaged by fire. As you can imagine, much of the merchandise at a fire sale was sold at very low prices, which fanned the flames of the use of “fire sale” for any sale with discounted or low price tags. The extended meaning of the term sparked an adjective use that had burst into a full-blown blaze by the mid-20th century. Since then, people have embraced “fire-sale prices” in the marketplace, well aware that they won’t get burned.

tags: fire-sale