Mr Straw said there was ”real concern that the west has been guilty of double standards – on the one hand saying the United Nations security council resolutions on Iraq must be implemented, on the other hand, sometimes appearing rather quixotic over the implementation of resolutions about Israel and Palestine”.

quixotic (adj) : like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; prone to pursue unrealizable goals; absurdly chivalric; apt to be deluded; not sensible about practical matters; unrealistic; ”as quixotic as a restoration of medieval knighthood”; ”a romantic disregard for money”; ”a wild-eyed dream of a world state” [syn: romantic, wild-eyed] – source: Guardian 28.3.2002, p. 20

Fine is no bluestocking, but her fury at Burgess for tackling the fantasies of adolescent boys so directly is coruscating.

coruscate (v) : to glitter in flashes; to flash; syn: To glisten; gleam; sparkle; radiate – source: Guardian 29.3.2002, p. 13

With Christopher Meyer installed today as press complaints commission chairman, acting chairman Prof Robert Pinker has produced a valedictory statement.

valedictory (adj) 1: of or relating to an occasion or expression of farewell; ”a valedictory address”; ”valedictory praise for his uniformly manly course”; ”a suitable valedictory gesture” 2: of a speech expressing leave-taking; ”a valedictory address” [syn: farewell] – source: MediaGuardian 31.3.2003, p. 5

The black English vernacular of the United States presents especially vexed questions for the educational system and society as a whole.

vernacular (n) 1: a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); ”they don’t speak our lingo” [syn: cant, jargon, slang, lingo, argot, patois] 2: the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language) – source: A History Of The English Language, p. 309

And in what seems to be a true epiphany moment, he’s also starring in 40, a Channel 4/Company Pictures venture about a group of people whose lives intersect at that stressful 40 time.

epiphany (n) 1: a divine manifestation 2: twelve days after Christmas; celebrates the visit of the three wise men to the infant Jesus – source: Radio Times 5-11 April 2003, p. 14

Five in years in the civil service counting the unemployed in ever more contrived fashions convinced me that working for The Man was not really my thing, so I reappeared as Porky The Poet, spouting asinine doggerel in a second-hand mag, supporting people like Billy Bragg, The Style Council and The Pogues.

asinine (adj) : of or belonging to, or having the qualities of, the ass, as stupidity and obstinacy; complacently or inanely foolish – source: Word 2/2003, p. 49

Article 37 of Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions, signed in 1977, prohibits ”perfidy” – defined as ”acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law.”

perfidy (n) 1: betrayal of a trust [syn: perfidiousness, treachery] 2: an act of deliberate betrayal [syn: treachery, betrayal, treason] – source: The Guardian 3.4.2003, p. 23

’See,’ Joe Pantoliano says the second time it happens. ’Every time I walk the street of fucking New York City, every Italian on the fucking block accosts me.’

accost (v) 1: speak to someone [syn: address, come up to] 2: approach with an offer of sexual favors; ”he was solicited by a prostitute”; ”The young man was caught soliciting in the park” [syn: solicit] – source: Uncut May 2003, p. 32

Little ladies don’t scream as vociferously as little boys, and they are chastised more severly for throwing tantrums or showing temper: ’high spirits’ are expected and therefore tolerated in little boys; docility and resignation are the corresponding traits expected of little girls.

vociferous (adj) : conspicuously and offensively loud; given to vehement outcry – source: The Feminist Critique of Language: A Reader, p. 246

At the Empire, in a fit of irrational exuberance, MacIntyre launched into a solo mini-set at the piano for an encore – which would have been OK had he not dragged it out into a paroxysm of under-rehearsed and painfully elongated soul-baring.

paroxysm (n) : a sudden uncontrollable attack; ”a paroxysm of giggling”; ”a fit of coughing” [syn: fit] – source: The Guardian 7.4.2002, p. 22