At this point in time, list of cliches literally banned

ECONOMIC and environmental jargon, such as "bailout" and "going green", feature prominently among the words and phrases grammarians would like to see purged from the English language.

Based on nominations from irate linguists and lovers of language from around the world, a US university has published its annual list of hundreds of words, phrases and sayings it recommends should be banned, including "brainstorming", "friendly fire", "dude" and "metrosexual".

This year, perhaps unsurprisingly, economic and environmental terms dominated the list.

"Going green", "carbon footprint" and "carbon offsetting" upset the grammarians at Michigan's Lake Superior State University. They were also frustrated by the choice of the word "bailout" to describe the use of emergency funds to remove banks' toxic assets.

As one grumpy voter put it: "When your cousin calls you from jail in the middle of the night, he wants a bailout."

Read more here.

Date: 02 Jan 2009