The rhetorical devices his speechwriters love to use have been rejected by him in favour of sticking with this, his original wording.
Salmond continued to talk of multiple questions, but it was nothing more than a bargaining chip for the talks – a way to extract concessions from Cameron on other issues: the timing of the poll, the wording of the question, and the franchise.
Following Cable's protests, the ONS statistics director general, Glen Watson, defended the wording, saying in November "referencing a target that users and the media follow closely does not impact on ONS neutrality".
It's been classic Blair: the lawyerly evasions over the wording of the September 2002 dossier, the self-deprecating asides over his Fern Britton interview gaffe, the deliberation conflation of the 9/11 attacks and Iraq's weapons programmes, real or imagined.
This is in line with the recommendations of the Electoral Commission which ruled that the wording in a Tory private member's bill in the last parliament could confuse voters.
Related: Turn of phrase: EU referendum result may come down to wording of question Farage said he questioned whether Conservative Eurosceptics would vote with their party or for what they believe in.
The DUP deputy leader, Peter Robinson, said Mr Blair and Mr Ahern had set out their understanding of Sinn Fein's position and the sort of wording the republican movement might use to declare the end of paramilitary activity.
The then culture secretary said he was unable to agree to the publication of May's extremism strategy with the wording in paragraph 111 and suggested it be replaced with a paragraph setting out the previously agreed position that Ofcom's powers be kept under regular review.
Senator Nigel Scullion, speaking at the Garma festival in the Northern Territory, said the Coalition would follow the consultation process set to run for the rest of the year on the exact wording of the constitutional change.
Franks said GOP leaders inserted the wording to his bill because they were concerned that "unscrupulous abortion providers", rather than women themselves, would falsify rape claims.
Poles felt that that wording implied Polish complicity, and Obama later expressed his "regret".
