Here’s something annoying that I’m spotting more and more often: journalists’ increasing use of the word “decline” when they mean “refuse”. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Words that should be banned’ Category
Words that should be banned: Decline
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008Seven pernicious euphemisms of the current financial crisis
Thursday, November 13th, 2008Shares – down.
House prices – down.
Commodities – down.
But there’s one market that’s booming: the market for disingenuous financial euphemisms. (more…)
Words that should be banned (or in this case just used as they were originally intended): Meritocracy
Friday, October 24th, 2008So Goldman Sachs has announced it’s cutting ten percent of its workforce.
I’m not sure why the media has made such a big deal about this announcement – I was under the impression that the world’s greatest bastion of “meritocracy” has always had regular culls to weed out the “non-performers” and those who were “the wrong cultural fit” (for the latter read: “didn’t buy into the whole Goldman Sachs cult thing”).
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If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
Friday, October 3rd, 2008The title of this post is one of George Orwell’s rules of writing in his much-quoted 1946 essay, Politics and the English Language. And it’s a rule that business writers would do well to take more notice of. (more…)
So what exactly does a “concept shop” stock?
Monday, August 18th, 2008My last post about the word “leverage” got me thinking about more words and phrases that should be banned. Here’s another: “concept shop”. (more…)
Why you should steer clear of leverage
Thursday, August 14th, 2008The word “leverage” has to be top of my list of words that should be banned. I’d never really come across it since ‘O’ Level Physics. But then I started working in an investment bank and I heard it all the time. (more…)
