| 释义 |
American Express orig. U.S.
[f. the name of the American Express Co., whose orig. function was to provide express mail services throughout N. America.]
A proprietary name for an international organization which provides its members with the facility of a personal charge card, on payment of an initial entrance fee and annual subscription. attrib. as American Express card, etc. Cf. Amex.
1958Business Week 16 Aug. 111/1 American Express will present its new credit card to society Oct. 1. 1959Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 25 Aug. tm151/1 American Express Company, New York... Filed Feb. 18, 1959... American Express..for credit card plan for extension of credit to customers who patronize subscribing establishments and making collections from said customers through a central billing system. First use Sept. 23, 1958. 1959Ibid. 19 Nov. tm84/1, 688,103 Representation of gladiator on a shield and ‘American Express’... Pub. 8-25-59. Filed 2-18-59. 1976N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone ix. 225 Fifty of which..he had secreted in his wallet between his driver's license and a three-year-old American Express card. 1979[see Diners' Club s.v. diner 3]. 1981N.Y. Times 20 Mar. a18/4 Caricatures were commissioned by American Express as part of a tie-in advertising campaign bolstering the New York theater as well as the credit card. |