WORDS

'Little people' or 'Little person' when referring to babies, toddlers or infants really sets my teeth on edge. What's wrong with 'babies', 'toddlers' or 'infants' for goodness sakes?

 

Kids

 

Children

 

I know. I mean, microhuman or compact human is perfectly good. We don't need to be using silly terms like little person when we've already got microhuman.

 

Then there's macrohumans and megahumans

 

Flexitarian.

BBC Good Food has posted summer diet meal plan for Flexitarians. Veggie option available.

Utter rot. Whatever happened to omnivore? Has it died or just been made redundant?

 

I think it's vegans who can't resist a bacon butty. Omnivores in denial.

 

Quomodocunquize (v.) To make money in any way possible.

 

How about the phrases that estate agents use in their property descriptions for being annoying? I've just seen "inherent modernisation potential" in one today . Don't they mean "in need of serious refurbishment/knocking down/rebuilding which is going to cost you a fortune if you can find someone willing to rip you off and walk away before it's finished"

 

I remember an estate agent, back in the 1980s describing the interiors of some of the old cottages on his books as having " acres of hand-stripped pine". Probably to complement the miles of Laura Ashley wallpaper and furlongs of matching fabric.

 

And now everything is blending seamlessly.

 

....and endlessly, uniformly battleship GREY

 

Word of the day is ‘recrudescence’ (17th century): the return of something terrible after a time of reprieve.

With thanks to Susie Dent for this.