margigal 

1)Once thought of as an ancient reference to a forgotten Tibetan province, researchers have now deduced that the modern-day understanding of the term has nothing to do with Tibet

2)Drunk slang

"...yeah...(slurred indefinitely, followed by sudden tilting of head to side and quirky smile), it's margigal..."

margigal by Dwight Kurt Schrute January 4, 2008

CoDependent Marginal Personality 

Having unhealthy emotional attachments to people, pets, and possibly inanimate objects.

Miyoko is so CoDependent Marginal Personality with her cats, that she will not let the Veterinarian obtain a temperature, for fear of him hurting Fluffy.

CoDependent Marginal Personality by DannyAnnieBeauFanny January 31, 2009

marginal propensity to consume

*noun*; in Keynesian economics, the rate at which aggregate consumption rises in response to a rise in national income.

For example, suppose the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) is 0.95. If the national income is 100 billion dollars, and it rises 10%, then consumption will rise by 9.5 billion, and saving will rise by 0.5 billion.

If this theory is correct, then an expanding economy will suffer insufficient demand for its own output, and a recession will be inevitable.

This is why national governments respond to recessions with deficit spending: they are trying to counteract the MPC's effect on aggregate demand, and bring it in line with potential output.

Not only is the marginal propensity to consume weaker in a wealthy community, but, owing to its accumulation of capital being already larger, the opportunities for further investment are less attractive...

J.M. Keynes, *The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money* (1936), Ch.3

marginal propensity to consume by Abu Yahya March 3, 2009

diminishing marginal returns 

phenomenon in which greater input of effort, money, etc. yields smaller results. Crucial part of the idea is that if you're using x to get y results (where y is the thing you want). then additional input a will yield additional results b, but not in the same proportion as before.

On average, before, you put in x to get y, so your yield was y/x. But if you increase x by amount a, then your results will be y + b, where

(y + b)/(x + a) < y/x

and this will only get worse.

Diminishing marginal returns (DMR) is used to explain why the supply curve in economics slopes upward, i.e., increasing the quantity supplied requires an increased price of most things.

Sometimes DMR is more than offset by "economies of scale," which allows more of a thing to be supplied more cheaply than a small amount.

At first his flowers and treats swept her off her feet, but then he had to do more and more lavish things to please her. It was a classic case of diminishing marginal returns.

diminishing marginal returns by Abu Yahya June 3, 2009

marginalize 

To opress; to blackball; to malign, smear, defame, or discredit; to lower public or private opinion--or the status--of an individual or group through hateful, deceitful, or misguided speech or action.

1. If you're a RACIST--regardless of YOUR color--you marginalize people on the basis of THEIR color.

2. "Let's marginalize Sarah--make her look like a stupid hick--that'll take her down a peg or two!"

marginalize by Shoe Fitter August 17, 2009

marginally 

By a slight margin, barely, slightly.

Martha's entry was marginally better than George's.

marginally by Erniee January 21, 2007