Why the media should avoid annoying cliches

In recap, last week’s column highlighted how what I chose to refer to as the ‘lingua franca of NGO’s’, in a way, affects the use of prepositions. The said language, however, does not confine itself to NGO’s; it is to be found across the ‘business world’, of which NGO’s are king.

Of the many words highlighted last week, the most common are ‘leverage’, ‘impact’, ‘best practice’ and thinking outside the box’.  Reports on seminars or business transactions are hardly complete without these words. The dictionary definition of ‘impact’ (noun) is ‘the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another’. The synonyms ‘collision’, ‘crash’, ‘bump’, ‘bang’ or ‘jolt’ make the meaning clearer.