A war on a word

2005-06-20 13:44

London - British potato farmers took to the streets on Monday to call for the expression "couch potato" to be struck from the dictionary on the grounds that it harms the vegetable's image.

The British Potato Council wants the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to replace the expression with the term "couch slouch", with protests planned outside parliament in London and the offices of Oxford University Press.

Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the Council, which represents some 4 000 growers and processors, said the group had complained in writing to the OED but had yet to receive a response.

"We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad for you," she said.

Potatoes 'are healthy'

"The potato has had its knocks in the past. Of course it is not the Oxford English Dictionary's fault but we want to use another term than couch potato because potatoes are inherently healthy."

The OED says "couch potato" originated as American slang, meaning "a person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, especially watching television or video tapes".

The Potato Council says its campaign has the backing of dieticians who say the vegetable is low in fat and high in vitamin C.

Supporting the campaign, celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson said the vegetable was one of Britain's favourite foods.

"Not only are they healthy, they are versatile, convenient and taste great too. Life without potato is like a sandwich without a filling," he said.

John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said the dictionary first included the term couch potato in 1993 and said "dictionaries just reflect the words that society uses".

Simpson said words were never taken out of the full-length dictionary, which includes some 650 000 words contained in 20 volumes.

But little-used words can be removed from the smaller dictionaries to make way for newer ones.

"If society stops using words then they get taken out of the smaller dictionaries," he added.

The first known recorded use of the expression couch potato was in a 1979 Los Angeles Times article, Simpson said.

Nigel Evans, a member of parliament for the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, has made a motion in support of the campaign, highlighting the nutritional value of the British potato.

- AFP