Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the cult TV series, can now count Sir Howard among their number. The self-styled “television with a bite” may not appear to have much in common with what critics dubbed a “toothless regulator” but that hasn’t put Sir Howard off. In preparation for an article in The Times Higher Education Supplement, Sir Howard, now director of the London School of Economics, read a dictionary devoted to the linguistic nuances of Buffy.Sir Howard, who lambasted financial services companies for failing to produce literature in plain English, can now speak a language known only to Buffyholics. He wrote: “’Cuddle-monkey’ (male lover) has a naive charm, as does ‘carbon dated’ for out of fashion.”

Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon was written by distinguished lexicographer Michael Adams, chair of the English Department at Albright College, Reading. Sir Howard admits that after scrutinising the book he now watches Buffy reruns — “although I probably have more of an interest in Sarah Michelle Gellar (the actress who plays Buffy).”

In each episode Buffy triumphs over evil. Critics of Sir Howard’s chairmanship of the Financial Services Authority argue that he presided over some of the biggest corporate wrongdoings in recent years, including the near collapse of Equitable Life.