Certainly, there are many important things to be absolutely clear about, but it won’t be easy

COLUMN — When important things are happening in Ottawa, MP Cathy McLeod doesn’t always make it home on Fridays. Too many important pieces, important changes, important work, important studies and important aspects to talk about.

“Important” is the MP’s favourite word this year. I discovered this last night as I was browsing her speeches (what else does one do on a Friday night?) on the openparliament.ca website.

Her word cloud tells the tale. She’s used all of the above terms, and more. Her second favourite?

Terms. Mostly, “in terms of.” In terms of programs, in terms of business, in terms of people, in terms of spending, in terms of structures, in terms of opportunities.

I would have thought “certainly” would be number one, since no politician in the country finds it possible not to begin at least one sentence in three with “certainly.” Mayor Peter Milobar and MLA Terry Lake preface most media interviews with it.

But, in terms of our MP, it’s only the third most important, tied, in fact with — and you’ll like this — “talk a little.”

More accurately, “talk a little bit.” As in, “Can you talk a little bit about that?” “Perhaps you could talk a little bit more about that.” Talk a little bit about the program. Talk a little bit about the dynamics. About the roles. About the accomplishments.

Just a little.

Here’s a surprise: “economic action plan” and “jobs” are way down the list. I’m pretty sure “economy” was on top of McLeodisms a few years ago.

If you were wondering about “move forward,” no worries. It’s in a dead heat with “certainly” and “talk a little.” McLeod would like to move forward on the budget, on aboriginal training, on the Canada job grant, on tax amendments, on leveraging assets and, certainly, the all-important Senate reform, which we should probably talk about a little bit more.

I intend no negativity toward McLeod’s speaking abilities; all politicians settle into comfortable words and phrases. Political speak is an artform.

Barack Obama is partial to “Let me be clear,” “This won’t be easy” and “It won’t happen overnight.”

Stephen Harper’s top 10 most favourite words, in rough order, are: leader, clear, Duffy (I kid you not), NDP, Liberal, Wright, obviously, expenses and Senate. That’s actually only nine, but a whole bunch of them are in contention for the 10^th spot.

I hope that’s absolutely clear. Or at least very clear.

Bill Tieleman wrote an entertaining piece for The Tyee last summer about what he called weasel words. Among his targets were “To be frank” and “to be honest.” Those have always been on my hit list, too — by using them does the speaker imply he or she is sometimes otherwise than frank or honest?

“Quite frankly,” is just a variation of “to be frank.” And, of course, there’s the well-worn “at the end of the day.”

Tieleman failed to mention “level playing field” or “singing from the same hymn sheet” (maybe because they’re from back in the ’90s) but he did take a poke at The National’s Peter Mansbridge for his tiresome “What do you make of that?”

As I’m checking around, I find that a great deal has been written about politicians and their clichés. One could almost say it’s become a cliché to write about them.

Let’s be clear — journalists aren’t any better than politicians when it comes down to it. You’re probably tired of hearing me say “flummoxed,” for example.

A litany of journalistic clichés was published a few weeks ago in The Washington Post by Carlos Lozada, the paper’s Sunday opinion editor.

Among them were “at first glance,” “observers,” “is not alone,” “pundits say,” “critics say,” “the narrative,” “be that as it may,” “a cautionary tale,” “needless to say,” “This is not your father’s (anything),” “at a crossroads,” “tenuous at best” and “game-changer.”

How could he have missed “any time soon” and “visibly shaken”? Or the CBC’s very most favourite word, “genre”?

But Lozada did include Twitterati, punditocracy, commentariat and “chattering classes.” Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, so to speak, but at first glance, to be sure, I’ve never heard of any of those. What’s more, and I’m being perfectly honest when I say this, I like them.

Okay, enough. Let’s move forward.

AROUND THE TOWN — Former Kamloops Daily News columnist Rafe Mair returned home last week after almost four and a half months at Lions Gate Hospital in Vancouver. As he was preparing to depart, he wrote a column for the Tyee on nurse shortages and, of course, on politics. He now says he’s feeling stronger by the day…. Ran into former KDN sales rep Jack Bell downtown. Hadn’t seen him for years. He’s thrilled with his newest enterprise, having acquired the Downtown Echo from Wendy Noonan… Looking forward to moderating next Wednesday morning’s 3^rd annual Adult Team Spelling Challenge at the Hotel 540 to help raise funds for literacy programs. I’ve gotten a look at the words but Literacy Outreach coordinator Fiona Clare has sworn me to secrecy. I’ll try not to use any clichés…

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