Words at W ork

insensitive connotation of the w ord as meaning ‘unreliable’, it could

scarcely be applied to anything so solid as a flashpan.

a running soreIn an article about the possibility of holding referendums on the subject o f hunting, we read:

Anything which did reach the statute book as a result would be a recipe for

a ‘running sore’ with no final resolution.

It may be that the writer thought the quotation marks justified the

freedom taken w ith the image o f the running sore. But to speak of a

‘recipe’ for a sore introduces the smell of the kitchen into the pharmacy,

and to suggest by use o f the word ‘resolution’ that a sore should be

‘resolved’ rather than healed is equally incongruous.

stepping into the breach

The word ‘breach’, familiar to us in its legal usage (‘breach of promise’) was used of a gap in fortifications through which a besieging enemy

might make an entry. Thus Shakespeare’s Henry V calls his men ‘Once

more unto the breach’ outside the walls of Harfleur. The more general

use of the phrase now is of taking over from a missing or injured person

in an emergency:

Emma Gibson . . . fell heavily on her feet. The subsequent injury to her knee

kept her from riding her impressive heavyweight hunter Shelford Rupert.

Fortunately, her friend Sam Fisher, who has not ridden him before, stepped

into the breech, and went on to win.

Stepping into the ‘breech’ is rather a matter of getting dressed than of

taking over in an emergency, for ‘breech’, like the more common form

‘breeches’, is a word for trousers.

striking a chord

Where a familiar expression has a metaphorical content, it is important

not to use it in such a way that incongruous metaphors collide.

When companies blame the pound they know they are striking a politically

sensitive chord on the back of which it is easier to push through measures

that would otherwise seem draconian.