DANGEROUS CLICHES
Sta,—Cant expressions sometimes acquire by mere repetition a degree of authority and acceptance which is incommensurate with whatever truth they may possess. Familiar examples in the past, as applied to Germany, were " You cannot keep a great country down," and " Britain does not wage preventive wars." There is little doubt that these and other sayings con- tributed to the resurgence of German militarism since the last war.
A popular cliché at the moment, regrettably used by Ministers, is " Tighten your belts," to describe the process of adjustment to changes in food rationing. If it represented literal truth it could only mean that we were on the brink of a serious diminution of output, if not complete collapse as a belligerent. Fortunately this is not so. Used n.etaphorically it has so little sense as to be dangerous, because it tends ,.43 impair the sane and serious appraisement of the real situatior' which should be the duty of every citizen within the limits of the knowledge which is accessible
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