Fat's the way to do it

I don't know if you saw last night's Channel 4 programme Fat Man's Warning, but I was amused when the voiceover described morbidly obese American Steve Daly as a "victim of fast food". I would have thought anyone who regularly ate 12 soft-shell tacos in one sitting was more an "abuser of fast food"... But it is a good example of how value judgements hide in language. After all, one man's insurgent is another man's freedom fighter.

Daly also had a good turn of phrase, describing Blackpool as "the shiny toy in the Happy Meal of England"...

No comments: