‘Twenty-five years ago,’ writes Mr Peter Gasson from Aylesbury, ‘policies were implemented; services were provided; changes were made or brought about; promises were fulfilled. Now they are uniformly delivered. I suppose the word has become so popular because it sounds emphatic.’ I know just what you mean, Mr Gasson, and so must we all, which suggests that politicians and managers who use the word deliver should think again. To give the cliché its full deficit of originality it is coupled with solutions: business solutions, catering solutions, heating solutions, bovine health solutions. All will be delivered, at a price.
By delivered they do not mean brought to your door in a cardboard box, like organic vegetables. They mean ‘done’. They will do what you pay them to. Very kind of them. Until recently, the most frequent use of the word deliver was in the phrase ‘deliver us from evil’.
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