We regret to inform you that this month’s editorial has been removed in order to make room for some late additions sent to us from the Oxford English Dictionary:
Vicious recession - noun. A period of economic downturn during which everyone rushes to say how bad things are, pushing the economy further into the red, which forces commentators to revise their assessments, thereby pushing the economy further into…etc.
Comfort cliché - noun. An old chestnut that provides warmth during times of chilly pessimism.
– USAGE “The fruit and vegetable sector is immune from the effects of the financial crisis because people need to eat.”
Not-so-great Depression, The - noun. Today’s downturn in the context of the real Great Depression, when US unemployment was at 30 per cent and 10 million depositors lost their savings. Quite simply, it’s nowhere near as bad now as it was then.
– SEE ALSO glass half full and myths
Discounterise - verb (intrans). To become far more focused on offering low prices in order to maintain market share, potentially at the expense of supplier returns and in some instances causing possible permanent damage to the relationships you have built up with those suppliers over a number of years.
– ORIGIN UK, late 2008
Brussels pouts - noun (derog). The looks on the faces of European Commission bureaucrats when 16 EU members vote against one of their proposals, forcing them to hastily arrange a second round of voting.
– ORIGIN Proposed changes to marketing standards on 26 types of fresh produce
– DERIVATIVES pout politics
Zaianism - noun. Practice of calling for a boycott on imported fruit in a country that depends on fruit exports for a significant proportion of its GDP.
– ORIGIN Italy, Christmas 2008
