1. A bar in Greenwich Village featuring folk and rock music.
  2. A perfectly horrible phrase used in American business that literally indicates whether one has made a profit, taken a loss, or simply broken even. It comes from the world of accounting: when you add up all the debits and credits, payables and receivables, the last line of the ledger has the big number everyone wants to hear.

    Figuratively it is used as a synonym for net effect, especially in an economic sense.

    The question, "So what's the bottom line?" although incorrect in its expression, is taken to mean "What will this cost me?"

    The phrase protecting the bottom line means cutting what are seen as unnecessary expenditures (this could include laying off personnel) in order to make a company's ledger look more profitable. It is usually an accounting, not a budgetary issue; that is to say, more of appearance than reality.

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