Chris Saul's Blog

Wednesday January 28, 2009

Economic terms that make me cringe

Some of the words and phrases being bandied about in the media at the moment really make me cringe.

The worst offender is 'soften', as in 'Dubai rents soften'. Why not just say that rents have dropped? When rental prices go up, will we be told that they are 'hardening'?

'Fatigue' is another one, as in a recent headline here stating that 'banks were showing fatigue'. This conjured up an image of various branches emitting snoring sounds across the high street. Apparently a term such as 'profits hit' is not good enough. Will banks be 'looking alert and lively' during the upturn?

I probably shouldn't complain about the term 'liquidity', which seems to be a long-used and generally accepted term. There's no logic here - I just don't like the word. It falls into the same category as 'Budgen's', a former UK supermarket brand, whose name noone in the Saul family could speak without pulling a face.

All together now - Budgens! (You have to shout this at the bottom of the stairs, then scream in disgust and run up to your room to do your homework whilst giggling loudly).