golden handcuffs: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for November 1 is:

golden handcuffs \GOAL-dun-HAND-kuffs\ noun
: special benefits offered to an employee as an inducement to continue service

Example sentence:
Dad eventually accepted the golden handcuffs and agreed to five more years with the company.

Did you know?
Chances are you've heard of a "golden handshake," which is a particularly tempting severance agreement offered to an employee in an effort to induce the person to retire early. People started getting "golden handshakes" (by that name) around 1960; by 1976, English speakers had also coined the accompanying "golden handcuffs" to describe a situation in which someone is offered a special inducement to stay. The expression turns up often in quasi-literal uses, such as "slapped golden handcuffs on" or reference to "a shiny new set of golden handcuffs." (It's also common in British, as well as American, usage.)

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