There are certain words and phrases that enter the language and then become horribly embedded. If I ever hear “perfect storm” again, I think I shall scream. As for “omnishambles” – fine in The Thick of It, where it originated, but all these years later? Please.
The latest one that is wearing precious thin is “permacrisis”. I know it was chosen by Collins Dictionary as word of the year in 2022, but I do think it is outstaying its welcome. Consider these recent headlines: “We’re in a permacrisis – and you need to know how to deal with it”; “Is Your Supply Chain Ready For The Permacrisis?”; “Workplace burnout & hitting ‘permacrisis’”; “How should organic respond in a ‘permacrisis’?”. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture. I’ve always found that “crisis” was quite powerful enough without being over-egged.
Reader Vivien Bailey also has a bee in her bonnet: “The usage that I detest is the growing use of the word ‘birth’ as a verb. This seems to have come in waves starting five or six years ago, and we’re in the middle of a wave now.”
She cites some recent examples from the papers: “I birthed two babies in rapid succession”; Beyoncé “birthed her twins”; while somewhere else in the same paper a woman proudly proclaimed: “I birthed a calf!”. She ends: “My objection to the American usage is that it seems to stress rather crudely the muscular process of bringing forth a baby, whereas the graceful British English term ‘to give birth to’ is much more dignified!” Agreed wholeheartedly.
After I wrote in my last column about lustily begat, I was amused by the following from Charlie Tomson: “Reminds me of the late Canon Paul Goddard, who when a parish priest reported being in dread of saying ‘joyfully loined’ instead of ‘lawfully joined’ in the marriage service. Whether he ever made the mistake in public, I don’t know.”
Email jonathan.bouquet@observer.co.uk
• Jonathan Bouquet is an Observer columnist
