http://www.vqronline.org/blog/2009/05/26/pound-of-flesh/ This article starts out like it’s going to give us a lesson in cliches that come from Shakespeare, but it’s actually about politics and finance. Technically it’s both, as the author’s point is that people are using the expression “pound of flesh” so much that they’re starting to use it wrong.
But Mr. Barbera warned against overconfidence, saying that Treasury officials thought they would carefully exact only a pound of flesh from Wall Street by letting Lehman fail, helping teach other investment banks not to take excessive risks. ‘But,’ he said, ‘it turned out not to be a pound of flesh that was taken. It was a ton.’
I could see where that would bug me, too. :-/