‘Look’; the staple monosyllabic opening gambit of the British politician. The go to time-buying, verbal intro of every institutional egotist from Warwick to Westminster. Almost every soundbite, every interview, every rhetorical salvo proffered by these rambling rulers seems to be prefaced with a patronising instruction to use our eyes.
‘Look…’ they suggest, as if we have forgotten how to see for ourselves. ‘Look…’ the preface of every answer; dropping it immediately after every sensible question like a patronising interaction with Ray Charles. And yet, the words which they usually follow it up with leave us blind, so indecipherable they are.
They are under the illusion that their voices are so bewilderingly smooth and soothing, they feel the desire to remind us to open our eyes based on a narcissistic assumption that we may be in a state of total relaxation; you know, just listening, sitting back and enjoying their dulcet tones (with our eyes closed) as though they are some crooning cabinet Dean Martin.
Yesterday I listened to a cabinet minister use “so, look…” to begin every single answer; this was look ‘advanced’. He clearly had the good sense to realise that almost every one of his peers used the term ‘look’ to begin their sentences and he wanted to set himself apart. Half way through the interview though I wanted him to set himself on fire (joking).
In summary then, I would suggest that the word ‘look’ is an inappropriate term to preface an answer with (to the point of being annoying). ‘Listen’ is clearly eminently more sensible, and actually makes sense. ‘Look’ is the sort of thing you say when pointing at something in the distance, or when attempting to divert attention away from an underhanded action. ‘Look over there’ for example is something a cheeky schoolboy might say before stealing your chips. And look, maybe that’s the point.
