Cracking down on...

I don’t know who first coined the phrase or whenever it fell into common currency, but according to the received wisdom of the English lexicon, “crack down” is a phrasal verb that means “to take severe action against”, a subject, presumably a person or organisation that is engaged upon activities of a dubious or criminal nature. But nowadays, the phrase has become the go-to term that expresses the merest rumblings of personal discontent, every bellyache and grumble with life, to grave political issues. While in the supermarket, I heard a woman stating that she was going to crack down on her partner’s excessive use of toilet paper. I ask you. When my brain had finished its 1001 boggles, it set about a whistle-stop tour of those finer verbs, more subtle in intent, that could be used in place of the insidious CD: discourage, explore, investigate, inhibit, modify, prevent, probe, question or simply offer an alternative. Best wishes to my consumer companion and her tissue issues.