Media releases
The worst words and phrases of 2011
Every year, the Plain English Foundation collects hundreds of samples of Manglish, spin and obfuscation in our public language. Every year, we release a list of the worst words and phrases we all had to endure from politicians, corporations and government agencies.
2011 gave us the euphemistic spin of 'negative good' (bad) and 'gestational carrier' (surrogate mother). It gave us corporate evasions such as 'fugitive emissions' (pollution) and 'free to roam' (hens crammed 20 per square metre). The economy gave us the new cliche 'two-speed', the ugly 'MYEFO' and a candidate for the worst prospectus title ever issued.
The mixed metaphor of the year came (of course) from a sports coach, the academic world contributed 'antinomies', and we had to endure liberal doses of 'hero', 'chillax' and 'inland tsunami'.
But what took the prize for the worst word or phrase of 2011?
Click here to read the full release.
Click here to read the shortlist.
For further information
Dr Neil James is available for interview over the Christmas period 2011.
Dr James is Executive Director of the Plain English Foundation and co-author with Harold Scruby of the recently released book Modern Manglish.
Contact Neil James by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it