three-martini lunches
Expense-account indulgence
Three-martini lunches are long, boozy midday meals, especially those expensed by business executives.
The phrase evokes a mid-20th-century corporate culture where deals were made over drinks and the tab was written off.
It often appears in political debates about tax deductions for business entertainment: The era of the three-martini lunch is over.
- tax deductionPermitted income reduction
- tax write-offExpense reducing taxable income
- expense reportRecord of business outlays
- drinksLiquids for consumption
- day drinkingConsuming alcohol during daylight
expense account · cocktails · indulgences · wining and dining · workplace ethics · schmoozing · corporate culture · Madison Avenue · networking · old boys club · write-off · vermouth · fiscal responsibility · Mad Men · gin · happy hours · status symbols · executive privilege
three-martini lunchesworking lunch
Midday meal with tasks
desk lunch · quick bite · lunch meeting · power lunch · grinding
three-martini lunchespacked lunch
Pre-prepared portable midday meal
lean operations · cost-cutting · austerity measures · bootstrapping
three-martini luncheshustle culture
Celebrating relentless career ambition
nose to the grindstone · no breaks · Protestant work ethic · sobriety · teetotaling
three, martini, lunches, lunch, lunching, lunched, luncheon, martinis, thrice