General
human piranha
What does human piranha mean?
The nickname Michael Lewis gave a particular Salomon Brothers government bond trader in Liar's Poker — a man whose sentences were so densely packed with obscenity that the profanity essentially became the grammar. Stand-in for the unhinged verbal culture of the 1980s bond floor.
"His manager does a Human Piranha impression in every Monday meeting and HR has just given up."
Origin
Coined by Michael Lewis in Liar's Poker (1989) to describe a real Salomon Brothers trader.
Frequently asked questions
What does Human Piranha mean?
It's a nickname from the book Liar's Poker for a relentlessly profane Salomon Brothers trader.
Where does the term Human Piranha come from?
It comes from Michael Lewis's memoir Liar's Poker, where it's used as the nickname for one of the Salomon Brothers traders.
How do you use Human Piranha in a sentence?
Someone might say 'He swore like the Human Piranha the whole meeting', invoking the Liar's Poker character.
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