I heard a brilliant new euphemism for the recession today – just in the nick of time for ministers trying desperately to put a brave face on what looks like another whopping banking crisis brewing.
We soon became wearily familiar with "economic challenges" as an alternative to the R word. Then, as things got worse, the government settled on "downturn" (sounds a bit depressing, but not as bad as recession).
But my ears pricked up when Roger Carr, the chairman of Centrica and Cadbury's, referred, in an interview on the BBC's Today programme, to the "turndown".
Hitherto, the word has mostly been associated with posh hotels offering a service consisting largely of folding the bedsheets back a bit and putting a chocolate on the pillow.
I thought it was a malapropism, but no – a bit of quick Googling suggests the word is in use in corporate America.
Genius: at a stroke, the recession suddenly sounds warm, snuggly and as though it might involve complimentary mints.
How long can it be before Peter Mandelson starts using it?
