Malus & Bonus

It's amusing to discover where words come from. Apparently,

• bonus is Latin for 'good', as opposed to
• malus is Latin for 'bad'

Spotted in business news here:

UBS’s SFr2.7 billion ($2.5 billion) loss for the year activated its malus (Latin for “bad”) system of accordingly reducing an executive’s bonus (“good”). Separately, the $9m in deferred stock awarded to Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sachs was taken as a sign of pay restraint on Wall Street. Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase, received $17m.

The Economist, 10 February 2010

No wonder, you'll feel 'good' if you get a bonus.