Some words can’t survive the battering of modern life and modern, shrieking headlines. They simply can’t make the stretch and retain a true meaning. Try “survivor”, as in survivor of Auschwitz or survivor of late second-half rally by Sheffield United. Try “victim”, as in victim of Boko Haram or of two paparazzi snapping outside a nightclub.
But most of all, last week, try “dossier”, as in a mysterious collection of incendiary child abuse documents given by a Tory MP to the Home Office, who promptly lost it. Was it, indeed, some forensic, masterfully marshalled dossier of damning evidence – or a ragbag of press cuttings and jottings pasted in an exercise book? Was it a few clippings in a used envelope? Since no one can find it, nobody knows: which is great for headline purposes.
But those of us who actually remember Geoffrey Dickens – either a “maverick” or a bumbling comic figure beloved by parliamentary sketchwriters on a dull day – at least have one underused word that fits. Try “buffoon”.
