from Double-Tongued Dictionary

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zombie debt n. A zombie debt is one you thought you buried long ago. It was probably for some small amount and your creditor gave up trying to collect. But meanwhile, another company bought that debt from the creditor. And now, years later, they’ve come for your BRAINS! I mean…payments. [English Money & Finance] [full cite] (Jul. 2, 2006)

zombie debt n. In the past few years a number of collection companies have cropped up specializing in what are called “zombie debts.” The companies buy old debt that is no longer enforceable. They then call the borrowers and tell them they’ll be in all kinds of trouble if they don’t pay up. [English Money & Finance] [full cite] (Dec. 12, 2006)

zombie economy n. Yuen Pau Woo was the economist responsible for Japan in Singapore’s central bank when the Japanese bubble—helped by a run-up in real estate prices that made Park Ave. co-ops look affordable—caused the world’s second biggest economy to burst. “It became what was known as the zombie economy,” says Woo, now CEO of the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation think-tank. “Many people look back and see that it was a mistake that they didn’t act quickly enough.” [English Money & Finance] [full cite] (Oct. 9, 2008)

zomburbia n. The massive migrations from suburban America (dubbed zomburbia) is now leading to such levels of social crisis the language is changing. [English Houses & Housing Urban Planning & Zoning New or Nonce] [full cite] (Aug. 31, 2007)

zone dog n. Instead of blitzing with man-to-man coverage behind it, LeBeau developed a way to pressure the quarterback by having a variety of players blitz from different angles to produce favorable matchups while backing it up with zone coverage. The technique, known as “fire zones” or “zone dogs,” now is used as a base pressure scheme by about a third of the teams in the league. [English Football Sports & Recreation Jargon] [full cite] (Feb. 11, 2006)

zonker n. I have often wondered why a deep-dish fruit pie is called a cobbler. My online etymological dictionary suggests it is related to a 14th-century word for wooden bowl, cobeler. What is apparently the same dish is called zonker (or sonker) in Surry County. This local use is even more a mystery. [English United States North Carolina Food & Drink] [full cite] (May. 30, 2004)

zonkey n. Featuring exotic animals that came from across the state, the barn includes a zebra-donkey mix (affectionately known as a Zonkey), reindeer, miniature goats, highland cattle, Jacobs sheep, cashmere goats, angora goats, alpacas and even a Watusi. [English Animals, Insects, & Birds] [full cite] (Aug. 25, 2007)

zoo-bombing n. A daring Portland ritual sent one woman to the hospital earlier this week and brought attention to a fad often referred to as “zoo bombing.” Zoo bombing is when cyclists barrel down a hill as fast as they can, like the hill below the Oregon Zoo, or—even more risky—the highway that runs from the zoo to the edge of downtown Portland. [Oregon English Sports & Recreation Slang] [full cite] (Jun. 8, 2006)

zoochosis n. We know that animals in zoo suffer from “zoochosis,” a term used to describe obsessive, repetitive behavior such as incessant pacing or head bobbing. We know that the law only requires animals to be provided a cage “large” enough to allow them to stand up, lie down, and turn around. We know that the complex emotional and social relationships animals need to thrive are destroyed in captivity. [English Animals, Insects, & Birds] [full cite] (May. 24, 2008)

zoomer n. In Longmont, they’ve already begun adding recreation programs aimed at active 50-something residents who officials have taken to calling “zoomers.” [English] [full cite] (Apr. 17, 2005)

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