The word 'condom' is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to refer to a barrier-type contraceptive device typically made of thin, elastic material. For example: "Consistent use of condoms can greatly reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections."
Unlike the most reliable form of protection, a condom, it is the woman, not the man, who makes the ultimate choice about whether to use the gel.
And while we're thinking of breaking things, check out an Italian's attempt on a world record involving a bottle of coke, some Nutella chocolate spread, some Mentos and a condom.
They filled up a latex glove – "what looked like an extra-large condom with ice water" – and held it against his podgy face.
Although he is considered orthodox on doctrine, he is apparently flexible on sexual doctrine and, in private, joked "they want to stick the whole world inside a condom".
Related: Blogging Students: how to pitch an idea and get it accepted A friend of mine – who wishes to remain anonymous – says she feels reluctant to ask a sexual partner to wear a condom because it can "spoil the moment" and "feel less good for the guy".
While I was catching up with a female friend recently, she mentioned a one-night stand during which her partner hadn't used a condom.
"They think the condom is not good for them, or that if their wife or lover suggests it maybe she thinks he has HIV, or is sleeping with other men.
"He would not use a condom.
Most of the increase in condom use seems to be among people previously unlikely to use contraceptives at all: fewer than half of under-18s used condoms in 1987, but more than three-quarters did in 1995.
The chiding voice saying "use a condom" or, worse, "don't have sex with anyone other than your regular partner", is not what most people want to hear.
The report is too diplomatic, though, to mention what many think is the reason for this a shift from proselytising condom use to proselytising abstinence before marriage and fidelity within it.
