Let's be Professional here

"Professionals" is one of those words that I really struggle with. Originally it meant ... humm ... what was it now? Christian Priests, Doctors and Lawyers I think. Those were the three things you could go to university to study and 'profess'. Then teachers and their ilk got in on the act and the rot set in. Oh! And there was always the 'Oldest Profession' too.

Now of course literally everyone is a 'professional' and not least all those people who do completely routine jobs of work. What used to be 'trades'. Professional eletricity meter reader, Professional telephone sales adviser, professional drain cleaner. Now 'professional' just means 'good' or at least 'not clueless'. Actually now if it even managed to mean that it wouldn't be so bad eh?

Who do I complain to? We ought to have a court to sort out people who abuse language like this that would impose savage penalties. The French do, you can get yourself locked up for using words like 'le software' in publications. But such a court in England would be useless unless we had powers to extradite Americans to stand trial. Fat chance of that; if we left the likes of that to Tony Blair to sort out I dread to think where we would end up. Arraigned in some Washington courtroom for spelling colour with a 'u' probably.

I remember when the Pope went to Ireland in the 1970's watching a programme on the Irish TV where a soft spoken RTE commentator from Kerry was covering the pontiff's pilgrimage to Knock or one of the other shrines along the west coast. Suddenly a crew of about a hundred CBS news gatherers and 'heavies' burst onto his pitch yelling "Hey! Move over for some professionals here for Chrissakes!" Of course those Irish kept the cameras rolling, they loved it. Professional piss-takers to a man the Irish, they have a great sense of fun and humour.

'Professionals' at work again eh? So often good for a laugh.