America’s ‘Freedom Gas’ Awarded Worst Phrase of The Year

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Department of Energy has won an unusual accolade -- inventing the worst phrase of 2019.

The department’s rebranding of liquefied natural gas as “freedom gas” took the top honor from Australia’s Plain English Foundation, edging out competing stinkers “voluntary employee separations” and “non-consensual sex.“

America’s growing muscle as an energy exporter has been used as a foreign policy tool by the Trump administration, which is trying to block a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and touts U.S. LNG as an alternative source of supply for Europe.

The phrase appears to have made its debut in May, tucked into an energy department announcement about approving the expansion of an LNG export project, which it said “is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy.” There was also a reference to “molecules of U.S. freedom.”

“When a simple product like natural gas starts being named through partisan politics, we are entering dangerous terrain,” Neil James, executive director of the foundation, which seeks to encourage clear communication, said in a statement Thursday. “Why can’t natural gas just remain natural gas?”

Previous winners include 2017’s “alternative facts” and Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling” to describe her separation from singer Chris Martin in 2014. HSBC Holdings Plc won in 2013 with “demising” -- that is, firing -- 942 employees.

The U.S. Department of Energy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside normal business hours in Washington.

--With assistance from Victoria Batchelor.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Verdonck in Sydney at rverdonck@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Jasmine Ng

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.