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moon the giant verb. To recklessly disparage a much larger and more powerful rival, particularly a business competitor.

Example Citation:
"Trojan horse strategies depend on the enemy being asleep. If you moon the giant or awaken the enemy, you might get burned."
—Michael A. Cusumano and David B. Yoffie, "Competing on Internet Time: Lessons from Netscape and Its Battle with Microsoft," The Free Press, 1998

Notes:
The verb to moon means "To expose the buttocks in public as a prank or disrespectful gesture," You might be interested to know that the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang traces this sense all the way back to a 1958 film called Beatniks in which a character named Moon says, "One more word...and I'm gonna moon you."

Related Words:
flame
veggie libel

Subject Categories:
Business - General
Language - Idioms

Posted on January 8, 2001 at 5:14 PM


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