ABSTRACT
Bearing in mind the differences in the use of language inside and outside science. This chapter looks at words, phrases and ideas which are frequently used but seldom scrutinised in arguments for Genetically modified (GM). 'Improvement' has no absolute sense, but can only be understood relative to some particular value or yardstick. Thus GM fruit and vegetables are presented as 'avour enhanced', and are guaranteed to be of a certain taste. Some quite bizarre changes have been proposed to make things more 'friendly', such as a GM onion which can be cut up without causing tears, or strawberries which will ripen in time for the Wimbledon tennis tournament. The notion of 'interfering with Nature' occurred quite frequently in our interviews and focus groups, even if not in these exact words.
