The economy is a very serious problem now, but I’m going to talk about a much less serious problem—our obsessive use of the term credit crunch.
Credit crunch is everywhere. During car commercials (local or national), I hear that you shouldn’t let the credit crunch keep you from buying a car. On the local news, I hear about how the credit crunch is hurting small business owners. On the national news, I hear about how the credit crunch is affecting the economy. On the street, I hear people talking about bailouts and the credit crunch.
I have on question: Does anyone know what credit crunch means? It’s hard to imagine that a very complicated national problem that has world-wide economic implications—a problem that the greatest economic minds on the globe are debating how to address—can be reduced to a two-word term that says it all–credit crunch. Somehow, that’s what we’ve done.
Speaking for myself, I’d prefer hearing a little more detail about the problem and what the potential solutions are rather than yet another mindless catch phrase.
–Paul
Paul’s book–Literally, the Best Language Book Ever
Everything Language and Grammar 