United would go some way towards exorcising the ghosts of October's 6-1 humiliation were it to beat City on the road on Monday.

WSJ: England Awaits Stuttering Finale

Certainly, much of Mrs Thatcher's prime ministership, particularly the retaking of the Falklands in 1982, was an essay in exorcising the demons of Suez.

ECONOMIST: The Suez crisis

Most carnivals throughout the Caribbean, even the ones most closely linked to religious traditions, have a component of old African mysticism and often involve the exorcising of evil spirits.

BBC: A Caribbean carnival of carnivals

And if the publication of Leary's archive speeds that process up by exorcising a ghost that still haunts LSD research, then the New York Public Library will have done the world a service.

ECONOMIST: LSD

Whatever personal demons Murphy is exorcising by camping it up in drag while wearing a fat suit, he is clearly saying nothing about fat people in general but a great deal about himself.

NEWYORKER: Norbit