transcription, транскрипция: [ sju:t ]
noun (Business World) (Politics) In business jargon, a manager or boss; someone who wears a suit to work (rather than overalls, a uniform, etc.). Also in political contexts (especially in the phrase men in (dark or grey) suits), a faceless bureaucrat; an elder statesman or senior civil servant who acts as a political adviser. Etymology: In both cases, a reference to the fact that the characteristic dress of these people singles them out for what they are (although, of course, many other people wear a suit!). History and Usage: Suit was a slang term for a member of the management or officialdom which in the mid eighties took on a new lease of life in a number of phrases to do with men in suits. The idea of the men in grey suits who ultimately had the power to bring about the downfall of a Prime Minister was made much of by journalists in connection with the leadership contest within the Conservative Party and the eventual resignation of Margaret Thatcher in December 1990. Major's spectacular ordinariness--the Treasury is now led by 'a man in a suit' whose most distinguishing feature is his spectacles. Observer 29 Oct. 1989, p. 28 Blaming the 'suits' is a national pastime. If a traffic cop has a faulty search warrant or a flat tyre, he curses the 'suits' at headquarters. The Times 14 Mar. 1990, p. 16 I claim paternity of 'the men in suits' from an Observer column of the mid-1980s. Not, you may notice, the men in dark suits, still less those in grey ones, which gives quite the wrong idea. Alan Watkins in Spectator 1 Dec. 1990, p. 7 Margaret Thatcher was brought down by a brief, tacit alliance of 'men in grey suits' and Thatcher loyalists. Sunday Telegraph 25 Nov. 1990, p. 23