Mea Culpa: Implausible plot lines and military metaphors

Questions of style and usage in last week’s Independent, reviewed by John Rentoul

Boris Johnson, with cake, on his birthday in 2020 (PA)

Several of the plot lines in the box set called Boris Johnson converged in last week’s episode, as it was reported that a prime minister known for wanting to eat his cake and have it had been “ambushed with a cake” in the cabinet room on his birthday 18 months ago. One of the group who gathered to sing “Happy Birthday” was Lulu Lytle, the interior designer who was working on the controversially funded refurbishment of the Downing Street flat.

Naturally, Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, rushed to support the prime minister, saying it was perfectly normal for people in an office to buy a cake on someone’s birthday. “Nadine has taken rather a lot of flack for this,” we commented. We meant “flak”, which is a contraction of Fliegerabwehrkanone, or “aviator-defence gun” in German. “Flack” is old US slang for a publicity agent. Thanks to Paul Edwards for shooting that one down.

Trebuchet watch: Military metaphors of this kind abound in writing about politics, so it was no surprise to find that we had described Johnson as “the beleaguered prime minister” in an article commenting on Grant Shapps, another cabinet minister conspicuous in defence of the leader.