Comments on: Compulsory sterilisation

By: Rhadamant

Rhadamant — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:11:07 +0000

Another horror from politicians on all sides: “I have been very clear that…” (and similar formulations talking about ‘being clear’). Meaning either “I’ve said nothing like this before, or indeed used to say the opposite, but will try and bluff my claim to having held a consistent position” or “I don’t care that I may be talking bollocks and/or ignoring another (more important/tricky) argument, all that matters is that I’ve re-iterated one or two God-awful points that the spin doctors have given me. And I shall go on doing so ad nauseam.”

By: Guano

Guano — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:10:45 +0000

This stuff about “sterline debates” is a reflection of a deep-seated anxiety among politicians, especially NuLab ones. They don’t want to have to choose, they don’t want to recognise that there are some fundamental choices that have to be made. They want to be all things to all persons, so these fundamental (ideological) choices have to be made to disappear. Blair once said something about how the UK shouldn’t have to chose between the USA and Europe – but unfortunately for him sometimes the UK will have to choose between them.

By: Guano

Guano — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:00:51 +0000

I have found cases where automatic spell-checkers have changed “scoping study” into “scooping study” and no-one has noticed, and the idea of “scooping studies” has now entered the vocabulary of some countries where English is not the first language.

By: Alan Douglas

Alan Douglas — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:10:47 +0000

Paradigm was a rare word, but now are a digm a dozen.

Alan Douglas

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:51:11 +0000

‘What you have to appreciate…” is another good one. Why do I have to appreciate it? Tell me. It’s code for, I’m not interested in your argument but you’re damn well going to listen to mine.

I could do this all day.

By: Rochenko

Rochenko — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:47:49 +0000

Notice also how ministers tend to preface a particularly purulent pile of policy bollocks with the highly defensive 'It is right that...'. As Phil Edwards pointed out to me a while ago, this adds a bit of the Book of Common Prayer to the managerial slurry.

By: ejh

ejh — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:50:27 +0000

Yeah, but things have moved on since then….

By: Jim Bliss

Jim Bliss — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:03:27 +0000

Anyone remember a few years back when “sea-changes” were all the rage? I was convinced there was some kind of contest between journos and politicians to see who could use the phrase most often.

By: Philip

Philip — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:42:16 +0000

Ahem. Worn-out,adj. Any argument which lacks the courtesy to remove itself from your attention, even in the face of your repeated and persistent failure to refute it. Someone or other, June 2005. I wish I could claim priority for fuckery-foo as well, but you can't have everything.

By: john miller

john miller — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:17:08 +0000

hmm, the first phrase leeched by the carrion was Ken Clarke’s “robust”.

This was instantly picked up and used for some 8 years thereafter, describing everything from the bacteria in Harriet Harman’s yoghurt to the thrill of no more fingerthrough in Mandelsohn’s Brazilian Bogpaper