Or a detective story, if that sounds more dignified.
Others call it "the classical humanist tradition," which sounds more dignified.
As an obvious example, if we're talking our work history, the sentence "From 2002 to 2006, I worked as a freelance consultant for several personal contacts" sounds much more dignified than "From 2002 to 2006, I did a little freelance work for a couple of guys I know", even though it has almost the same meaning.
Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed Hamas prime minister – in hiding from Israeli air strikes – sounded confident and dignified when he broadcast a message on new year's eve, quoting a Gaza Strip mayor on the Palestinians' stark choice between "slavery or death" as bombs and missiles rained down – and Hamas carried on firing into Israel.
They've got a new album out by now, but the highlight again comes from You Forgot It In People: a version of the ballad Lover's Spit that is bruised and beautiful, the sound of dignified sadness; it sounds like the best song ever written, and for days afterwards I listen to the version on their odds-and-sods compilation Bee Hives on repeat.
That sounds about right, actually: with her boyfriend Mickey, Minnie has achieved a dignified position in the Disney constitution, a representative of its respected history without the wearing daily duty of appearing in cartoons.
He sounds scolding when he wants to sound commanding and he comes off more indignant than dignified.
It may have been exciting to witness, but it sounds better suited to agitprop theater -- say, Eisler or Brecht -- than to the kind of dignified if harrowing enterprise Pound was trying to foster.
It sounds crazy, but it works - changing from a slouched or slumped default posture to a more dignified one can make a marked difference on how people think of you (and how you think of yourself).
Mr Mugabe would be allowed to go into a dignified retirement, and not be sent to The Hague for crimes against humanity.Mr Tsvangirai, more of a bruiser and showman, sounds less accommodating.
