| LITOTES — NOT MUCH
What would the English do without understatement?
When people are yelling and screaming and running round in circles you
ask: “What’s all the fuss about?” If a friend is severely ill you say
he’s “feeling a little sorry for himself.” You refer to World War I as
“the late unpleasantness”. The retreat from Dunkirk was “no picnic”. If you’re surrounded by utter disaster you say “conditions are suboptimal”.
The scheme went under the rather snappy title
of State Plan Theme 1425. Pete Clark Evening Standard September 19 07
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