Banned words

This is a list that is liable to grow.

ace (acceptable when describing a card, it is not to be used to describe someone who excels at something)

ahead of (before is shorter)

as of now

autopsy (Americanism)

bid (when we mean attempt)

blasted

bloodbath

boardroom antics

boffin

breathtaking

bubbly (both for champagne and young women)

budget airline

burglarized

chairperson, chair (chairman is correct English)

choke back tears

clampdown

closet (as an adjective)

coffers

come out (for LGBTQ people)

crackdown, cracks down

crowd pleaser

deep throat

disgraced managers, innocent victims and all their tribe are out

doctors fought to save

dummies' guide to... (this is a trademark. Use 'bluffer's guide' instead)

entitled (when we are referring to something's name)

epitome of

Europhobe

fall pregnant

fighting for his life

frail grannies

green light

heartbreak

hit series

gunned down

hike (when we mean a rise)

huge

iconic

jaw-dropping

loaned (no such verb: used lent)

luxury (as an adjective: very tabloid)

mass exodus

meet with

mission creep

mum-to-be

mystery callers

nation's favourite

order of magnitude

over, when the sense is more than

perfect storm

perverted Scout leaders

prestigious

prior to

probe (when we mean inquiry)

quizzed is not an acceptable substitute for questioned

revellers

rubbish (as a verb)

set to, as in "The Church of England was last night set to..." or "The FA is set to name...", is to be avoided at all costs in text and headlines

shocked

simply (as in "simply fill in the form")

slammed is acceptable for a door, but not as a metaphor for criticism

slashed (instead of cut)

snapped (of a photograph)

sparked (when we mean caused)

stretcher - it is not a verb

stunned

stunning (unless the subject really is unconscious)

toff

toilet

Trademark (except when referring to trademarks); never refer to someone "wearing his trademark hat" etc

try and (it is try to)

U-turns are reversals, about-turns or rethinks. Avoid clichés, especially horrors like "a furious row erupted" and "massive heart attack". "Brutal murder/rape" is a tautology: we should assume all such crimes are brutal.

Watch out for hackneyed expressions such as ordeal, crackdown, feisty, legendary, lifestyle, major, massive, mammoth, bumper, bonanza, boost, effectively, pinta, copy-cat, look-alike, tit-for-tat and substitute proper words, where the word or phrase is not redundant.

Phrases taken from film titles, such as 'home alone', are over-used. Instead of saying that children are left "home alone" say "left alone". It's better. Our readers know that parents whose children have been murdered or otherwise killed are "devastated" and "heartbroken" and we should not stupidly say that they are.