British potato farmers are on a mission to banish the term 'couch potato' from the Oxford
English Dictionary, arguing that the description of slothful television addicts harms the vegetable's image.
A group of about 30 farmers took their cause to the streets on Monday, demonstrating outside Parliament and carrying signs that read "couch potato out" and "ban the term couch potato."
A similar rally took place in Oxford, central England.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term "couch potato" as "a person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, especially watching television or video tapes.
The British Potato Council says the phrase makes the vegetable seem unhealthy. It wants the expression stripped from the dictionary and replaced in everyday speech with the term "couch slouch."
"The potato industry are fed up with the disservice that 'couch potato' does to our product when we have an inherently healthy product," said Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the British Potato Council, a body set up by the government to run advertising campaigns promoting potato consumption and research issues linked to the vegetable.
"Potatoes have been around for many, many years, but increasingly, with all the coverage that dieting and healthy eating gets in general, we need to make sure that potatoes remain a popular food," Race said.
Race said the council had written to the Oxford English Dictionary stating its objections but had not yet had a response.
John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said the expression first appeared in the 1993 edition.
"Inclusion is based on currency of the term rather than on the basis of what people want us to put in the dictionary," he said.
