- guardian.co.uk, Thursday May 27 1982 15.12 BST
Nothing terribly new about this. Paul Fussell, in his book The Great War and Modern Memory, drew up his own list of poetic and euphemistic language used in that conflict. A few examples: A horse was a steed or charger; to conquer was to vanquish; the front was the field; warfare was strife; to die was to perish; the army was the legion; the dead were the fallen. And so on. "This system of 'high diction'," commented Fussell, "was not the least of the ultimate casualties of the war."
He was being premature. The last few days have turned up a list just as impressive as Fussell's Great War catalogue, and the shooting has only just started. A few examples: The Union Jack is The Flag of Freedom; the South Atlantic is the cruel waters; British soldiers are our brave boys; British commandos are our tough guys.
The language is unashamedly discriminatory. British casualties tend to be the price of victory, which doesn't seem to be true of Argentine casualties. Sea Harriers tend to be lost or shot down; while Mirages and Sea Hawks are, as a general rule, blown out of the sky. Argentine gun boats, by the same formula, are blasted to smithereens while British ships are generally sunk. Britain's "brave planes" carry out bombing raids or strafe enemy ships; Argentine pilots, by contrast, embark on desperate suicide missions or carry out merciless air onslaughts. And talking of "brave planes," you may have noticed that HMS Antelope (alias HMS Valour) was a brave little frigate, not so much blasted to smithereens as stricken.
You will remember me introducing you to the Professor of Accounting at Belfast University, Professor Perks, earlier this week. Allow me to do the same today for the Professor of Accounting at Birmingham University: Professor Trevor Gambling.
