Amongst the weighty matters of political debate on Liberal Democrat blogs at the moment is the question of whether “sclerotic” is too recondite a word for Nick Clegg to have used. Stephen Tall posts a case for the defence, a view echoed by Brian Appleyard:
I would have thought that, since arteriosclerosis is so common, almost everybody would have come in contact with the word … Ignore the knockers, Nick, swallow a thesaurus that we may engorge on your recondite multiloquence.
P.S. A quiz question for Iain Dale: can you guess what word is not only used on the Conservative Party website but also been used in Parliament by Graham Brady, Douglas Carswell, Edward Gariner, Dominic Grieve, Stewart Jackson, Richard Spring, Andrew Lansley, David Ruffley, Nicholas Soames, Caroline Spelman, Andrew Tyrie, John Wilkinson, David Willetts and – in the spirit of cross-party harmony I should add – that favourite photogenic MP James Purnell? I think you can.
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5 Comments
Maybe it is coz I is thick 🙂
I don’t think James Purnell used those words Iain … the Tories mentioned may have done however.
He did Chris.
Sclerotic??.. Does it means thik skin??? Or thickning of the skin?.
Clegg is being far too clever for his own good. We need leadership messages which can appeal to the whole country, not just the medical profession and the literati. Concentrate on repeating the simple lines about the party’s most populist policies, Nick, and ditch the esoterics!