To those who don't speak it, the language of investors and financiers can seem impenetrable, with ideas too complex to grasp. This is by design, explains British journalist and novelist John Lanchester in this witty, "wickedly funny" (NYTimes) guide. Also the author of the novels The Debt to Pleasure and Capital, Lanchester reveals how the language of money is often a tool to conceal and mislead; he explains hundreds of common economic terms, from GDP and IMF to amortization and collateralized debt obligation; and he argues that we all need to speak money, lest those who do rewrite the financial rules for themselves.