The Scotsman's word of the year '“ leader comment

So, as the bright-orange, 'gammon' individual in the White House continues his attempts to 'gaslight' the world, The Scotsman would like to encourage everyone to 'floss' like no one's watching, plog 'single-use' plastic like you've never been 'plogging' before and negotiate a Brexit 'backstop' like nobody's listening.

Once upon a time, floss meant the candy variety, then along came special string to clean your teeth, but now it's apparently some kind of dance

Collins Dictionary’s words of the year tell a tale about 2018 and, believe it or not, it’s not all bad.

The “MeToo” movement may have exposed horrific crimes and rampant sexism, but at least we are getting to grips with serious problems that had gone largely undetected for too long.

And “whitewashing” – casting white actors as characters from ethnic minority backgrounds – and the rise of “vegan” diets raise important and complex moral questions about modern life today.

These words, newly popular if not exactly new, are all part of the “ever-evolving English language”, according to Collins.

Strange then that “fudge” didn’t make the list. Surely the EU and UK need to find a new recipe, and fairly quickly, even if it turns out to taste particularly unpleasant to everyone apart from Theresa May.