Mind your language
I TURNED on the news on Radio Four and heard, 'There are new con- cerns over ticketing for the England game. . . . ' It almost seems that my writing about annoying usages causes them to breed. I have mentioned con- cerns before and now there seem to be nothing but concerns wherever one turns. Later in the very same news bul- letin we heard of action being planned `as a mark of Nato's concern'. I suppose it makes a difference from a 'mark of respect'.
The annoying aspect is the ambiguity of the word. Concerns in the plural often seems to be used instead of fears — itself an overused journalist's word which is now enjoying a little holiday. But it is vaguer than that. The head of global sponsorship at Adidas, the sports-shoe makers, said on television on the last day of May, 'We definitely have some concerns.' I think he meant they were worried about something. And it seems not enough to use concern in the singular, they come in pluralities, though whether because there are sepa- rate grounds for concern or because several people share the same concern is not always clear. Moreover, concerns possesses the same weasel indefiniteness as public interest. Public interest ought to mean 'in the interests of the public'; editors from the yellow press take it to mean 'of interest to the readers'. Similarly, just because you are concerned about some- thing does not guarantee that it is any of your concern. Mind your own busi- ness.
That old backbench Tory MP who wanted a committee to take a look at Lord Archer's record had, according to Radio Four, 'written to express his con- cerns'. It is a small step to bossy-boots officials thinking that 'concerns' which they hold veto. imply a right of censure or 'Concerns about aggressive televi- sion-based games and bullying in the Playground are cited by teachers as rea- sons for curtailing breaktimes,' writes Liz Lightfoot, the education correspon- dent of the Daily Telegraph. That'll learn them. So if someone in power expresses concerns' about (or worse, 'around') the 'appropriateness' of your behaviour, watch out; you are for the high jump, or at least a bumpy ride.
Dot Wordsworth
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