Terminological inexactitude
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Terminological inexactitude is a phrase introduced in 1906 by British politician (later Prime Minister) Winston Churchill. Today, it is used as a euphemism or circumlocution meaning a lie or untruth.
Churchill first used the phrase during the 1906 election. After the election in the House of Commons on 22 February 1906, as Under-Secretary of the Colonial Office, he repeated what he had said during the campaign:
| “ | The conditions of the Transvaal ordinance… cannot in the opinion of His Majesty's Government be classified as slavery; at least, that word in its full sense could not be applied without a risk of terminological inexactitude.[1] | ” |
It seems this first usage was strictly literal, merely a roundabout way of referring to inexact or inaccurate terminology. But it was soon interpreted or taken up as a euphemism for an outright lie. To accuse another member in the House of lying is unparliamentary, so a way of implying that without saying it was very useful.
[edit] See also
- Economical with the truth
- Plato, The Laws (ca 350BC) Book 9
[edit] References
- Nigel Rees, Sayings of the Century, 1984.
- ^ The Outlook, Volume 17 retrieved 28 January, 2012
[edit] External links
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