What followed was a swift non-apology for "any offence caused", the linguistic invention treasured by the stubborn as a way of never really apologising for anything.
Hence the existence of the Linguapax prize, awarded on International Mother Tongue Day (21 February) to celebrate work that treasures linguistic diversity.
The differences go far beyond the colour of rowing vests, of course; linguistic quirks are treasured as badges of honour.
One could say that Makriyannis was forgotten, not only as a fighter, but also as the author of a text written in Demotic Greek; a text that, besides reproducing the heroic atmosphere of the War of Independence, is also a treasure-house of linguistic knowledge concerning the common Greek tongue of the time.
Academics from Trinity College, Aberdeen and Cambridge Universities are now co-operating on a series of research projects that could not only help bring resolution to ancient quarrels but will open up a treasure house of genealogical, linguistic and census information.
As we celebrate UNESCO's International Mother Language Day, on February 21 , 2011 we should treasure humanity's astonishing linguistic diversity, and work for its survival and expansion.
By the mid-18th century, Shakespeare's work had become a bible for Americans, and a treasured, felicitous reminder of their linguistic and cultural heritage.
Loriot – real name Bernhard Victor von Bülow-Carl von better better known as Vicco von Bülow – was a national treasure who combined the eloquence and linguistic dexterity of a Stephen Fry with a Peter sensers-style sense of the absurd.
Needing his linguistic skills, she uses a Kor mak bracelet to bind them together for a treasure hunt on Earth.
Bundled inside this treasure box is the gurgling and eruption of grunts and groans, starts and fits, explosions, linguistic shards like Pig Fuck (Last Tango in Paris), Pussy Cockroaches, Paint Thinner.
