Tabloids urged to end use of ‘boffins’

But the Daily Star fights back by launching a counter campaign called “Save Our Boffins”

The Institute of Physics has called on UK tabloids to stop using the term ‘boffin’ to describe scientists.

The IOP said the word was “baffling and clichéd”, adding that scientists should not be “lumbered with this confusing and stereotypical tabloid slang”. It also said the term could be putting people off from studying science.