Euphemism in the workplace does not end with job descriptions. It reaches a pusillanimous peak at the other end of the work process - in dismissal.

It is part of politics to make things look better than they really are. What is a spin doctor but a serial euphemiser?

I was broadcast-struck from an early age; I had saved up for a tape recorder and started making programmes.

I was absolutely a non-starter at games. My report for rugby said, 'Nigel's chief contribution is his presence on the field.' I used to pray for rain and sometimes it did rain - and we played anyway.

Lord Castlerosse was taken to task by Nancy Astor over the size of his stomach. 'What would you say if that was on a woman?' she asked, pointedly. 'Half an hour ago it was,' he replied.

I got into New College, Oxford. The ethos was that you could work - or not.

Democracy is too good to share with just anybody.