A guide to ‘gaffes’, and why, in truth, they are always to be found in the eye of the beholder

Among the silly expressions that may one day be associated with our era — and I hope buried with it — is the little word ‘gaffe’. I ought to know, having been indicted often enough myself for the crime, and having just co-edited and published a whole book, Mission Accomplished, of so-called gaffes committed by politicians and world leaders. Yet the moment you start to examine in a thoughtful way the things we call gaffes, the concept disintegrates into a clutch of very different types of utterances, some of which are wholly commendable.

All that such utterances have in common is that they are regretted. I do not even say ‘regrettable’ because in politics honesty, though often regretted, cannot be regrettable. Too often the word ‘gaffe’ is used as a shallow commentary on what is really a truth that causes embarrassment, or an opinion widely held but suppressed by the timid.