Mark my words & other cliches

Best-loved "Brian Wilde was one of Britain's best-loved actors." Stars of long-running television sitcoms or soap operas (and possibly comedians who are not too rude to appear on the Royal Variety Show) qualify for this accolade, whereas their counterparts on the stage or big screen will tend instead to be "respected" or "revered". It may also be that obituarists use this phrasing when they cannot remember their subject having won any awards.

Febrile markets Volatile financial markets seem to qualify as febrile only when they are going down: "The reports were enough, in these febrile markets, to send HBOS shares sharply lower." When merger rumours were causing bank stocks to soar, the atmosphere was nearly as feverish but less worthy of report.

Major retrospective When art galleries put on an exhibition which focuses on the career of one particular artist, the retrospective provided is inevitably major, however little of the canon is actually on show: "Over the summer Tate Modern will mount a major retrospective of Cy Twombly's work."

Precious point Alliteration demands a certain formula when teams threatened by the spectre of relegation achieve a draw: "Michael Owen salvaged a precious point for Newcastle." A win is three times as precious, but will tend to be described in other ways.

Spark a row "Bungling Minister Lord Malloch-Brown has sparked a row by urging British Olympic athletes to condemn China on human rights." Rows always seem to be sparked rather than merely "caused" by a remark. The more incendiary and sensational verb is perhaps pertinent when a little throwaway comment ignites a dispute on a large scale. In this case it is more likely that Lord Glentoran, Conservative Olympics spokesman, was the only person to get lit up.

Walk away "Heather Mills walked away with a 24.3m divorce settlement." As soon as they emerge from court or an industrial tribunal (or indeed after they appear on a television game show), people are always said to walk away with a precisely calibrated amount of money, even if they are usually seen getting straight into a taxi. The vocabulary may quietly recollect the nonchalance of someone who has brazened out a duel or survived a shoot-out at high noon.

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