Scameron and Magna Carta

[GranToAirMissiles]

Is it believable that Scameron did not know the meaning of 'Magna Carta'? Surely trying to dumb himself down again?

[meditrina]

I found it rather 'literally unbelievable' too.

[BurlingtonBertieFromBow]

Surely he must know. He did PPE fgs

[somebloke123]

It does indeed seem odd. He must have been familiar with "magnum" from his Bullingdon days and know that it means "big". And "Carta" isn't exactly hard to guess either even if you have never studied Latin, which presumably Cameron will have done for some years.

The "Rule Britannia" question is more excusable. I would myself have answered Thomas Arne for the composer but not with 100% certainty and I have a strong interest in classical music. I wouldn't have had a clue about the author of the words.

But this doesn't compare with some gaffes of the past:

GW Bush saying that the president of Pakistan was called "General"

Obama appearing not to know the number of states in the Union, and being unaware that his own state of Illinois has a boundary with Kentucky. Also referring to the Falkland Islands as "The Maldives".

Dan Quayle "correcting" a school kid's spelling from "potato" to "potatoe".

[OatyBeatie]

Perhaps pretending he doesn't know what magna carta means is a way of softening us up for a claim that Andrew Mitchell didn't know what pleb meant (and thought in fact that it meant esteemed officer of the law)

[GranToAirMissiles]

Oaty - or possibly a momentary memory-lapse, in which case we should look out for more signs of failing powers.

[CatWithKittens]

Chortled at 'He must have been familiar with "magnum" from his Bullingdon days and know that it means "big"'. I told DH, a wine lover, who said the Bullingdon probably regarded magnums as far too small and drank only Imperials of claret or Methusalehs of champagne. He quoted a story about a cavalry officer's complaint about a magnum of champagne, that it was a little too big for one person and far too small for two before dinner. DH's explanation of Cameron's apparent ignorance was that they obviously did not know how to teach Latin at Eton and since they can't birch boys any more it probably did not sink in anyway. I suspect some inter-school rivalry!

[GranToAirMissiles]

Boris Johnson reported as saying it was a brilliant tactic to show he's just an ordinary bloke.

[MirandaGoshawk]

Yep. Agree with Boris and you, Gran.