Jargon of the day: Domestic Disparity Indicator

I was secretly excited when I ran into this phrase today, because it sounds so totally meaningless.

Phrase: Domestic Disparity Indicator

Translation: Any way you can find to measure the divide between rich and poor in a country. Domestic because you’re measuring just one country, disparity because what you want to know is how rich are the rich and how poor are the poor, and indicator because you’re looking for some kind of thing you can measure. The percentage of land belonging to the richest 10% of the population, for example, would be a domestic disparity indicator.