Many American high school students take the SAT, the college admissions test, more than once. Beginning in March 2009, the College Board allowed students to choose which of their SAT scores colleges would see. Students could raise their scores “without revealing to colleges the number of times it took.”
Not all colleges accepted the option. One admissions consultant noted: “Having money in admissions is a huge advantage.”
Since 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act has required a detailed environmental impact statement for every major federal action that significantly affects the environment. Until 2023, one item the statement had to list was “any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented.”
These studies take years. The White House Council on Environmental Quality reviewed 1,276 statements finalized between 2010 and 2018. On average, one took 4.5 years. One quarter took more than six years.
Mulligan. In golf, this is “a free shot sometimes given a golfer in informal play when the previous shot was poorly played.” Merriam-Webster dates it to 1931.
Do-over. This is “a new attempt or opportunity to do something after a previous attempt has been unsuccessful or unsatisfactory.” Merriam-Webster dates it to 1912.
Plan B. This is “an alternative plan of action for use if the original plan should fail.”
Exit strategy. This is “a plan for ending involvement.”
Escape clause. This is “a part of a contract that allows a person to get out of the contract in a particular situation.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that “there are no second acts in American lives.” The line comes from his working notes for The Last Tycoon, published in 1941, after his death. Americans often quote it only to disprove it. In 2013, NPR used it in a report on politicians who had “fallen from grace only to rise again and disprove the line”: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Eliot Spitzer and Mark Sanford.
Fitzgerald had used the phrase earlier, around 1932, in the essay “My Lost City.” There he wrote: “I once thought that there were no second acts in American lives, but there was certainly to be a second act to New York’s boom days.”
An American home purchase contract usually contains contingencies, conditions the buyer adds “to protect yourself.” If the inspection finds serious problems, if the loan falls through, or if the house is appraised below the price, the buyer can walk away without losing the earnest money deposit.
In Texas, the standard contract offers an option period. The buyer pays the seller an option fee. For a set number of days, the buyer may then “terminate the contract for any reason or no reason at all.”
During the housing boom of the pandemic years, many buyers waived these contingencies to make their offers more attractive. Then, if problems arise, “the buyer may have no contractual way out.”
The USA PATRIOT Act became law on October 26, 2001, six weeks after the September 11 attacks. Senator Patrick Leahy later recalled that he and House Majority Leader Dick Armey “insisted that we add a sunset for certain governmental powers.” Those provisions would expire at the end of 2005 unless Congress renewed them.
Leahy said the sunset “ensured that we would revisit the PATRIOT Act.” In March 2006, Congress made 14 of the 16 expiring provisions permanent. The other two received new sunsets of four years.
Paper trail. Merriam-Webster defines it as “documents (such as financial records) from which a person’s actions may be traced or opinions learned,” in use since 1935.
Cover your ass, or CYA. “To keep oneself/someone else from being blamed or punished.” It can also name a risk-averse mentality, often characterized by excessive paperwork and documentation.
The Federal Trade Commission’s Cooling-Off Rule dates from 1972. A buyer who signs a contract with a salesperson at home can cancel it until midnight of the third business day. Since 2015 the rule applies to sales of $25 or more at the buyer’s home, and $130 or more at other temporary locations, such as a hotel room or a fairground.
In 1977 Wyoming became the first state to allow limited liability companies. In 1988 the IRS ruled that they could be taxed as partnerships. By 1996 every state had an LLC law. The LLC has become the dominant legal form for American businesses.
The owners of an LLC are generally not personally liable for its losses.
Henry J. Heinz started a company that bottled horseradish. It went bankrupt in 1875. The next year he founded another company with his brother and a cousin.
Henry Ford’s first company, the Detroit Automobile Company, went out of business in January 1901 because “it offered a poor vehicle.” His second company became Cadillac after he left. He founded Ford Motor Company in June 1903.
Walt Disney’s animation studio in Kansas City, Laugh-O-Gram, went bankrupt in 1923. He moved to California “for a new start.” Milton Hershey’s first candy business went bankrupt in 1882. His second, in New York, also failed. In 1900 he sold his third, the Lancaster Caramel Company, for $1 million.