Grazie, have these guys been trying to smoke potato skins? :-)

Mike

From yesterday's Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario Canada newspaper):

"The British Potato Board is formally seeking to expunge from the Oxford English Dictionary the expression "couch potato." It's become an acceptable term and it's highly offensive to their product, argues the board. As an alternative, they are proposing "couch slouch." Potato farmers held noisy protests outside Parliament and the offices of the OED's publishers in Oxford.

"We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad for you," said Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the potato council. "We want to use another term because potatoes are inherently healthy."

OED chief editor John Simpson said he thinks the campaign is "a bit of consciousness raising" on the part of the potato council. "I think the potato has taken a bit of a mashing after the Atkins diet," he said

Nigel Evans, MP for the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, tabled a Commons motion in support of the campaign, highlighting the nutritional value of the great British potato. No mention of what happens to a spud's attributes when it's deep fried in lard, coated with salt and eaten in front of the telly."