Telling lies and getting away with it: Wendy Davis

After listening in recent years to liars saying, "I misspoke", I take my hat off to Texan Wendy Davis's inventive circumlocution.    Caught in biographical lies, she says, "My language should be tighter". What a breath of fresh mendacity.  Only Bill Clinton can claim a match to its audacity with, ""It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is".  Here is her invention in full:

"My language should be tighter. I’m learning about using broader, looser language. I need to be more focused on the detail.”

Applying this system, if I say I have a hundred dollars but really have just one, my error s not a lie.  I have cast the net a bit wide and hooked the other 99 by mistake. If challenged, I thank my critics for new insight into the English language. We are all in favour of learning stuff.

Related: She made the news today with a gaffe for the ages.  She said of her wheel-chair-bound opponent for the Governor's position in Texas that he "hasn't walked a day in my shoes".

That's how it has been reported.  The original text is kind of empty, literally saying no one can prove she isn't proud of herself. I will buy that.

("I am proud of where I came from and I am proud of what I've been able to achieve through hard work and perseverance. And I guarantee you that anyone who tries to say otherwise hasn't walked a day in my shoes.”)