Local councils have been warned over a slew of jargon that baffles ordinary people, but why do they love to obfuscate?

The Monitor is the home for some of our most popular features, including your letters, Punorama, the caption competition, and 10 Things.

In his weekly opinion column, A Point of View, Harold Evans reflects on how Katrina has rescued the word "poor" from the US enthusiasm for euphemism.

If the Security Council dillies and dallies... Saddam will have achieved his great triumph - to stretch the 15 nations' arguments into the season when any punitive military campaign would be impossible

The French Government sets up a commission to cut the worst legalese and jargon from the French bureaucracy.

BBC Sport Online imagines what Martin O'Neill would be like as a New York waiter, for the show Danger: Soccer Celebs at Work.

The new David Mamet play is a disappointment, despite a sparkling performance by Zoe Wanamaker.