FT Alphaville and the FT are not allowed to say PIIGS a certain porcine acronym.
But we are in good company. Neither, it seems, is Barclays Capital.
The memo below is currently doing the rounds at the British bank:
Please alert your teams not to use the acronym PIIGS in any written communication. Rather, they should spell out the acronym and say: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain. Research Production globally have been informed to take out any reference to the acronym in question.
Thank you,
Valerie
For those who haven’t experienced the wrath of southern Europe, the forbidden-acronym is said to cause offense because it can be construed as having pejorative undertones. That doesn’t solve the problem that “Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain” is a mouthful. `European peripherals’ lacks the comedic headline potential, though `Club Med’ (as in Mediterranean) goes some way towards rectifying that.
Either way though, BarCap research just got wordier.
Related links:
Pigs in muck and lipstick – AFP
At least you’re not Spanish – FT Alphaville