The Independent - London, February 11th, 1996
Absurd TONY BLAIR has called the idea of hereditary peers "absurd". It was "in principle wrong and absurd", he said last week, that people should wield power on the basis of birth rather than election or merit. Conservative intellectuals like Brian Mawhinney have reacted sharply, but there's no doubt that Mr Blair made a nice hit with his use of absurd. The very sound of it buzzes with dismissive contempt, particularly when it is pronounced, as I have heard it done, with the voiced 's' - abzurd - the 'b' lending some of its sound to the consonant that follows it. Modern dictionaries neglect t...
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