Mea Culpa: Place your bets on Keir Starmer

Questions of style and usage in last week’s Independent, reviewed by John Rentoul

Some phrases are best avoided across the board (AP)

In an editorial about Sir Keir Starmer, we said: “He must look like a credible prime minister across the piece.” Linda Beeley wrote to ask where this strange expression comes from. I have been unable to enlighten her, so if any reader knows, do get in touch. I think it is business jargon, and according to Google it peaked in popularity in 2007.

As far as I can tell, it is a variation of “across the board”, although that only invites another question. That seems originally to have been a betting phrase, meaning a bet on a horse to win, place or show, and its first known use was in 1945, according to the US Merriam-Webster dictionary. It then came to be used to mean “in all respects”, or “applying to everyone”. Its popularity peaked in 1982, and so perhaps the “piece” version was a desperate attempt to freshen up a tired old phrase.

Even odder is the phrase “across the piste”, which also sometimes pops up – although not in The Independent in the last few months – in which the horse-betting phrase seems to have evolved into something to do with skiing. Best to avoid the lot of them, I think.