Lost in all the talk about "subprime", "credit crunch" and "securitization"? William Safire says part of the problem is the way cliches are used to numb us into not thinking. In his piece in the New York Times, Safire shows us how the commentary about the market is replete with cliches and jargon. All designed to switch off our brains.

The term "credit crunch" is one example.

"The familiar squeeze would not do - too mild - and crisis, cousin to crisis of confidence, is too severe," Safire writes. "Crunch seems just right, combining the sound of an icebreaker plowing through the Arctic wastes with the happy sound of breakfast cereal snapping, crackling and popping in the mouth."

Then there's "subprime". "In lending, prime - from the Latin primus, "first" - is the least risky, giving the lender a low interest rate; the sub- prefix takes the meaning in the other direction: high return but high risk. (There is as yet no superprime, but give prime time.) It used to be called below-prime, but that sounded too understandable for bankers, and in 1996 subprime revved up in the auto industry."

Safire sums the problem up thus: "Thus, the subprime lending packaged by the process of securitization threatened a credit crunch causing a lot of hype about a seized-up banking system, causing in turn much media murmuring about a possible recession, and the ensuing market volatility. But not to worry - I just wrapped all the risky terms into a single sentence, which one day the language-business cycle will find easier to sell."

In the past, I have warned here and here that jargon is designed to hide the truth and keep people in the dark.

Safire reminds us that it's not going away. Just a reminder for us not to forget to engage our brains when we read about the market's crisis.