每日一词学英语(42): like-for-like

英国房产市场回暖，零售依然低迷(From The Times, June 9, 2009: Cautious welcome for improvement in housing market as retail sales slow)。

The threat of unemployment has dampened the mood on the high street, with like-for-like sales falling by 0.8 per cent in May after a 4.6 per cent jump in April, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

今天的每日一词和“以牙还牙”无关，作为金融术语，like-for-like (LFL)有其专业解释。Wiktionary上说得通俗：(of sales) comparable to the same period in a previous year, at outlets that existed at that period。“Like-for-like sales”是同比销售的意思，一般与上年同期进行比较。