"demerits" is a correct and usable word in written English.
You can use it to refer to the negative points given for an offense or wrongdoing, usually by an authority figure. For example: The teacher assigned the student five demerits for talking out of turn in class.
Without getting into the merits or demerits of Mr Cameron's or Mr Blair's stances on Israel (though The Economist's leader this week argues that Israel should heed some of what its critics are saying), in both cases these have served to alienate natural allies.
WE WILL never see the current incarnation of right-wing populism clearly, warns Ross Douthat, or weigh "its merits and demerits judiciously [without] acknowledging the legitimate sense of political disappointment that underlies the right's inclination towards intransigence".
And both sides have commissioned reports by top businessmen on the merits and demerits of the single currency: unsurprisingly, the Kingsdown report (for the pros) came out in favour, and the Nott commission (for the antis) against.The political fall-out from the battles over Europe is uncertain.
Our sister blog, Eastern approaches, has an article about the merits and demerits of staging last year's European football championship.
Poverty's chains Soft science no more Reprints Related items Germany's bureaucracy: Breathe or be strangledOct 9th 2003It also offers a healthy balance to the usual debates about the merits and demerits of capitalism.
Chapter 6 argues that performance of Vedic injunctions generates this supersensible force and that the merits and demerits accumulated lead to moksha.
Ward, 30, who founded the annual Boring Conference, was inspired by his fondness for stationery to start a stationery club, which met regularly to discuss the merits and demerits of selected pens.
The re-evaluation of the sheer scale of hacking as a Fleet Street practice is almost certain to be part of the debate inside the Commons today when MPs debate the merits and demerits of having press regulation enshrined in law.
Last week started with an important speech from Tony Blair on the merits – or, rather, demerits – of a referendum on our membership of the European Union.
These include failing to undertake a strategic environmental assessment, or to arrange a consultation process "that allows informed responses on the true merits and demerits of the proposals".
According to these, before the ultimate attainment of nirvana, the faithful could expect to pass through series of heavens or hells, according to their merits or demerits and the intensity of their devotion to a bodhisattva.
