Trickle-down is literal. The wealth trickles down, just like it says. The common conception is the definition of "trickle-down" is "flow down" like the wealth

Trickle-down is literal. The wealth trickles down, just like it says. The common conception is the definition of "trickle-down" is "flow down" like the wealth flows in a cycle like the rain into the snow, the snowmelt in the river, and the river into the ocean. That's flow. But we are talking about "trickle", like a faucet trickling, meaning it can be shut off easily, or you need a fixer to fix it, or it merely causes a bit of mold and warps the parquet. Trickle.