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‘Quantitative easing’ – another of those expressions which has become prominent as a result of the credit crunch. Like many of these financial terms, this one is not new, but in the past, the word would only really have been used by bankers or financial experts… not any more. If we turn on the TV or radio news, or pick up a newspaper, we can’t really avoid it. A quick search of an online newspaper shows the term being used 217 times in the first 3 months of 2009, compared to just 17 times in the whole of 2008.

One contributor to a national newspaper suggested a blend word (when two words are reduced and joined to form one) to make it easier to say (after all, 'quantitative easing' is a mouthful, isn’t it?). The suggested blend was ‘queasing’, taking the first two letters of 'quantitative' and combining them with 'easing'. What is nice about this blend is the fact that it reminds us of a word which is very close in spelling - ‘queasy’. If someone feels queasy, they feel sick or nauseous, and you could say that this is how a lot of those who work in the financial industry have been feeling. The suggestion was put to the UK government to officially adopt the word 'queasing' instead of ‘quantitative easing’ but sadly it was rejected.

But this raises an interesting question, doesn’t it? Who decides which words enter the English language? In the UK we don’t have an official academy, as in France, which has the final say on new words, or new uses of words which already exist, coming into the language. The truth is, if enough people start using a word, the people who compile dictionaries (lexicographers) eventually have to decide whether to include it in their latest edition. Personally, I hope 'queasing' catches on!

So what does ‘quantitative easing’ actually mean? Well, essentially, it’s a licence for the Bank of England to print money (although of course it doesn’t actually print money – it’s all electronic these days). Interest rates have fallen to record lows, banks are not lending money and consumer spending is falling. In short, there’s a liquidity crisis – in other words there is not enough money available for people and businesses to spend. When the economy needs an injection of capital, new money fast, that’s where ‘queasing’ comes in.

Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma. He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.