Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

In its more harmless form, fauxtomation is merely a marketing ploy, a way to make pointless products seem cutting-edge.

I was compelled to unmesmerize them and start again from the beginning.

There is a monument on the town green to the soldiers who died in World War I.