[The Prime Minister believes that he gave a clear, simple,
straightforward and honest answer.]
Sir Humphrey: Unfortunately, although the answer was indeed clear,
simple, and straightforward, there is some difficulty in justifiably
assigning to it the fourth of the epithets you applied to the statement,
inasmuch as the precise correlation between the information you
communicated and the facts, insofar as they can be determined and
demonstrated, is such as to cause epistemological problems, of
sufficient magnitude as to lay upon the logical and semantic resources
of the English language a heavier burden than they can reasonably be
expected to bear.
Hacker: Epistemological — what are you talking about?
Sir Humphrey: You told a lie.
Hacker: A lie?
Sir Humphrey: A lie.
Hacker: What do you mean, a lie?
Sir Humphrey: I mean you…lied. Yes, I know this is a difficult
concept to get across to a politician. You…ah yes, you did not tell the
truth.
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((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
