But the mid-1980's were fat years, and recession turned tribute into temptation.

Still, Hans's family may look back on 2005 and 2006 as the fat years if neither of them finds regular work.

"We had seven fat years," said one state fiscal monitor.

It has been a good, fat year for the Redskins.

He was about fifty years old, of middle height, and soft rather than precisely fat.

Still, those were fat years for every firm on Wall Street.

Until another generation has grown up in the fat years, that is unlikely to change soon.

On the contrary, most are more upbeat than they've been since the fat years of the 1980's.

With the 1991 vintage, it was clear that the fat years had ended.

In the late 1980's, which were also fat years for advertising, profit margins ranged from 16.5 to 19.2 percent.