Wednesday, August 01, 2007

The Language of Resignation

In the row over the British Airways fine for trying to 'fix the fares' one small piece of the jigsaw has gone unmentioned in a long while. One of the BA board directors who resigned said in a letter to the BA chairman. That there may have been "inappropriate conversations" in his office over long-haul fuel surcharges, although he said he was not involved in "such conversations".

The language of resignation has always fascinated me. It always seems to take the form of some completely bizarre turns of phrase. Mind you, you don't necessarily have to resign. Ask Bill Clinton.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the US it's called 'truthiness'--which is a newly-coined term used by politicians that seems to mean telling a lie in such a way that it isn't actually a lie. The best form of truthiness is the simple "I do not recall".

Then you have Bill Clinton saying that it all depends on what your definition of "is" is.

Another example (fictional but possible):

Question: "Do you think the troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the twenty-first century?"

Govt. spokesman: "Questions such as this do nothing more than embolden the enemies who serve to destroy us."

Not only do you not answer the question, but you phrase your non-answer in such a way as to cast doubt on the loyalty and patriotism of the questioner.

Richard Havers said...

I just love the fictional question Rob, and feel certain that it will be asked and answered in just such a way before too long.

As the Manic Street Preachers once said....this is my truth, tell me yours.