Wide meanings 10:00 Nov 24, 2008
Creativity's suggestion of 'tőkeáttétel' is perfectly correct in a financial context, but the term in general has meanings corresponding to 'room to maneuver', the 'ability to influence or apply (psycho/social/actual) pressure. As in the phrase 'I haven't got much leverage here', the meaning is clearly 'I have no other choice in this situation'. Or the phrase 'We could use that as leverage in the discussion'. Leverage refers to an advantage of some sort that allows one to apply pressure to effect a result you want. It is, I suppose, a mild form (business-like) of coercion. In Hungarian, I take its everyday meaning to be closer to 'emelőerő, emelőhatás, befolyás' or even just plain 'hatalom'. |