Robert Jay delivers another English lesson at the Leveson inquiry

If the Leveson inquiry was meant to be an investigation into media ethics, Robert Jay's cross-examinations have occasionally seemed more like a masterclass in the use of elegant and occasionally arcane vocabulary. Points have been "pellucidly clear". Arguments have been "nugatory". The "propinquity" of politicians and media has been under scrutiny. Thursday's English lesson, however – delivered in one of the inquiry's more surreal exchanges – concerned the infelicitousness of language used by News Corp lobbyist Fred Michel. Probing Jeremy Hunt on Michel's claim that the culture secretary was seeking "impactful remedies", he asked Hunt whether "impactful" was "an adjective which would naturally fall from your lips". No, said Hunt. "Is it a word?" wondered Lord Justice Leveson. Jay's response was withering: "Not one I would use, it's fair to say."