The fluid nature of English

Thanks to the Bangladeshi press (see previous posting) there's a new verb: "to crossfire."

That country's Rapid Action Battalion is frequently reported as having killed bandits, or critics of the government, in "crossfire." This implies that bullets were flying in both directions between RAB personnel and gangsters. It is generally accepted that the shots were probably fired only by RAB, which has gained a reputation as the Bangladesh government's assassination squad, explaining why "crossfire" almost always appears in inverted commas.

A man complaining he had been threatened by some political high-up said: "I was warned I might be 'crossfired' if I persisted with my complaint."

Still, it's not all bad news. A year and more ago Transparency International reckoned Bangladesh was the most corrupt country in the world. Now it's only the fourth most corrupt by their reckoning.

Working flankers in Bangladesh

For reasons too long to state here, an interest in Bangladeshi politics is developing. It was sparked off by a Guardian article containing a phrase to the effect of "... Bangladesh, where assassinating your political opponents is routine ... " which I thought excessive.

That country's English-language newspapers at www.virtualbangladesh.com/news/daily.html confirm the reporter's opinion.

Then a caretaker government - appointed for the period between the end of one administration and the next general election - decided to clean up the voter lists, meanwhile postponing the election due in January 2007. In Jan 2007 a state of emergency was declared pending a general war on the country's endemic corruption.

Top figures in politics from both major parties and business people were arrested and interned under a new set of regulations called the Emergency Power Rules (EPR), pending trials.

But the alleged offences were committed before EPR came into effect, so today the Supreme Court of Bangladesh threw out charges against Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League party. This is expected to lead to the dropping of virtually all charges against all the accused, including Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP).

This leaves one wondering: Were the government lawyers so incompetent they didn't realise the law could not be applied retrospectively, or did the "establishment" simply put on a show of tackling corruption knowing that the charges would be thrown out and they could all go back to "business as usual"?

Just like buses ...

For a while now our cousins in the USA have been awaiting their chance to elect a black president or a female president, neither having happened before. Suitable candidates, it seems, are like buses: you wait ages for one, then two turn up at once.

The current primaries cruelly present the delegates of the Democratic party with a choice between a presidential candidate who is either female or black. As the current columnists' catch phrase has it: "You couldn't make it up."

If Hillary Clinton were to become president, would she choose Barack Obama as her vice-president? If so, what would Chris Rock do? I recall a side-splitting routine he did a few years ago based on his supposed wish to see a black person as vice-president. Not, as his audience first supposed, a black president.

Just for the record: Mr Rock was only joking, as am I. The routine referred to is probably available somewhere on the Internet, if you're still interested.

Pique Peek and Peak

In response to underwhelming demand, here's a contribution gratefully received which is clear enough to need no explanation:

"Though thrown into a fit of pique at the insult
to her climbing abilities, when she took a peek at Pike's Peak, she had
to admit they were correct in their assessment."

English Misusage

A correspondent writes:

And today's morning paper said "Huckabee was projected to win." Projected?
Where? On a wall? a movie screen?

Pique, Peek or Peak?

Never mind illiterate journalists reporting that someone said "Here, here" in support of a speaker when they actually said "Hear, hear!" meaning "Listen, for heaven's sake!" what else drives you bananas?

Currently exercising friends of mine is the apparent inability to distinguish "pique" from "peek" and "peak."