Am I the only one sick of seeing "smart’ added to the mundane descriptions of  otherwise flimsy devices, schemes and rules.

I know, I know, it can be just a shorthand way of saying they have chips and computer driven interactivity with the owner or the environment.

But the word has also been appropriated by the Emperors who want to slide stuff past us hoping that no one will dare question something called ‘smart’ becaue it must be soo fashionable.

For ‘smart’ you can often substitute unproven, over-complicated, bad value for money or even fraudulent.

Smartmeters, smart-cars – OK. ,

Smart-phones, smart-pay systems, smart cards – Possibly.

But smart tariffs, smart accounts, and smart growth – Smart-arse.