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Article: words:Absurd
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- February 11, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Absurd
TONY BLAIR has called the idea of hereditary peers "absurd". It
was "in principle wrong and absurd", he said last week, that people
should wield power on the basis of birth rather than election or
merit. Conservative intellectuals like Brian Mawhinney have reacted
sharply, but there's no doubt that Mr Blair made a nice hit with
his use of absurd. The very sound of it buzzes with dismissive
contempt, particularly when it is pronounced, as I have heard it
done, with the voiced 's' - abzurd - the 'b' lending some of its
sound to the consonant that follows it. Modern dictionaries neglect
this variant, but I'm pretty sure it was the way Lady Bracknell, as
played by Edith Evans, said it. I ...