It's Going To Happen

[robinturner]

From an article in the Guardian on the Digital Economy Bill:

Feargal Sharkey, Chief Executive of UK Music commented:

"UK Music welcomes the creation of the Digital Economy Act. Firm foundations are now in place on which to develop the UK's digital economy. The UK's music industry has no urge to look backwards and, as we have consistently stressed, legislation is not a means to an end. It is a spur to action.

So we have a building metaphor moving to a travelling metaphor which segues—kind of—into a riding metaphor. That is just about comprehensible, even if it is devoid of actual meaning. But "legislation is not a means to an end"? Is this guy getting Kantian with the law and claiming that laws should be treated as ends in themselves and never as means to ends? But then, isn't being a spur to action a means, not an end?

So what on earth happened to make this old punk rocker start speaking managerese? Ah, but I suppose it's not the literal meaning that matters, it's the, ahem, undertones.

Comments

[alsoname.livejournal.com]

This made me laugh. Out loud.

[solri.livejournal.com]

Nice to see someone got the obscure puns.

[ankh156.livejournal.com]

Sharkey is another opportunist (irish) gobshite* who's indulging in shameless self-promotion and trying to "set the world to rights". He should be keel-hauled and then made to walk the plank.

*cf. Bob Geldof and Bono.

[notebuyer.livejournal.com]

Undertones, indeed!

I've always had a preference for my uncle's opinion: "If he's using more than one metaphor at a time, he's hiding something, not telling you something. Assume what he's hiding is bad for you."

[solri.livejournal.com]

Wise man, your uncle.