The suspicion that Mr Blair misled voters over Iraq has become an accusation of bad faith that has been impossible to shake off. By now a common nickname for the prime minister was "Bliar".

The misuse of private trading accounts by mutual fund managers is a practice, which like that of "black mouths," is common enough to have been given a colorful nickname in Chinese: "rat trading."

They are not such a problem at college: students in the same dorm naturally gather around the table and it's common to give a nickname to schoolmates.