N46 : Forty-sixth lesson S00-TITLE : Cut and thrust S01 : Politicians rarely wear kid gloves in the debating chamber: they prefer boxing gloves. S02 : Here's a selection of choice political barbs culled from the pages of Hansard - before the era of photo-ops and soundbites... S03 : The honourable member for Leeds Central would make a drum out of the skin of his mother in order to sing his own praises. S04 : He's a modest little man with much to be modest about, and there's less to him than meets the eye. S05 : I would remind the right honourable gentleman that, while it is a fine thing to be honest S06 : it's also important to be right, a fact he tends to overlook in favour of snide remarks. S07 : In actual fact, being criticised by him is like being savaged by a dead sheep. S08 : If I may pursue the animal metaphor, he's a sheep in wolf's clothing. S09 : In a debate, he's forever poised between a cliché and an indiscretion. S10 : And in Cabinet, he's worth his weight in brass, as my honourable friends on this side of the House can confirm. S11 : He has sat on the fence so long that the iron has entered his soul. S12 : They say he'll be Prime Minister one day - and one day will certainly be enough. S13 : Order, order. We'll have a little less back-biting please. S14 : If you were to ask his colleagues on the back bench, they would tell you that he prefers stabbing to biting. S15 : But let's get down to brass tacks and discuss the basic issues, shall we? S16 : As usual, my opponent is toeing the party line and offering a mixture of sound and original ideas. S17 : Unfortunately none of the sound ideas is original and none of the original ideas is sound. S18 : There are of course two sides to every issue - and his party takes both. S19 : They have a problem; they won't get elected until things get worse. S20 : But things won't get worse unless they're elected. S21 : Madam Speaker, I beg to move that this House adjourn to next Wednesday. T00-TRANSLATE : Exercise: Translate T01 : Good business analysts are worth their weight in gold. T02 : I trusted you and you stabbed me in the back. T03 : I beg your pardon? Could you say that again? T04 : Unfortunately, we're living in an era of soundbites and photo-ops. T05 : This is a delicate affair that needs to be handled with kid gloves.