Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
downsize (v.)
The verb appeared in the late 1970s, an explicit reference to American auto-makers’ reducing the size and weight, and hence the gasoline consumption, of their cars. It began as argot but became Standard in the media. Today it has added another meaning: to downsize is “to cut back manufacturing and commercial work forces and operations in the face of economic bad times.” This sense of downsizing is a euphemism for layoffs and firings. It’s a variation on the old belt-tightening metaphor and appears to be Standard too.
