Negotiate /nɪˈɡəʊʃɪeɪt/ (v.) 1. (Archaic) of a negotiable instrument, such as a cow, to transfer ones rights, title and interests in it to a third person by “endorsing” it.
2. Of an industry-standard master trading agreement, to spend six months communicating to your proposed counterparty your credit department’s view — which they cannot bring themselves to express to your counterparty in person, it being a matter of “legal verbiage” that they, mere men and women of finance and not law are not qualified to “opine” — that your firm will die in a ditch before accepting cross-acceleration or some similar concession the firm would in fact never in a million years use, and would not understand how to even if they wanted to.
