There is nothing severe, stern or ascetic about any of this. If what London and Europe are talking about is austerity, sobriety is a jug of Bloody Marys. It is jolting to discover that the online Oxford English Dictionary definition of austerity is now "difficult economic conditions created by government measures to reduce public expenditure".

This is truly remarkable. Are we are all suddenly in agreement that an ever more crushing public debt burden is the path to easier "economic conditions"? It is not the job of dictionary writers to legislate the total victory of Keynesianism or any other partisan philosophy. (The two-volume 1976 Concise OED speaks only of "severe self-discipline or self-restraint, moral strictness, rigorous abstinence" and the like.)

Altering the meaning of key words can be an immensely powerful political technique. Successfully sold to the public, a manipulated terminology can fundamentally change a policy debate. The argument is no longer about you getting what you want versus your opponent getting what he wants. Instead, it's now about how much you get of what you want. Et voilà!

In this case even the rightward marches of the debate have been shifted entirely into the territory of the big-spending Left. After all, what can sound more serious, more mature and responsible, than "austerity"? And yet this new austerity simply means overspending a little bit less — or in Mr Osborne's case hugely overspending a little bit less. Ubiquity achieved, the false choice means that any real discussion of fiscal responsibility cannot even happen: it would have to be another conversation entirely.