Workmanlike

It’s hard to say if the Democrats have done themselves much good this week or if the GOP can do much next week, but one very clear winner of this convention season has been the wonderful old Germanic English word “workmanlike.” Applied sometimes as a compliment and sometimes as a mark of disappointment, it has been used to describe a great many of the prime time speeches in Denver, and we can only hope John McCain’s speech in St. Paul will at the very least be workmanlike. It’s a word that reaches back to the 15th century in English, and was a particular favorite of Charles Dickens. But I’m still waiting, likely in vain, for the even more Germanic “workmanlikeness” to make its appearance. I should probably be watching the conventions on PBS for that one.