, or is ‘the obedient servant’ of someone
he regards as an inferior, he is using phrases that were
probably once deceptive. If they don’t now deceive, common
sense condemns as over-scrupulous the refusal to use them
where it is customary to do so. But common sense seems
doubtful and perplexed when the process of degradation is
incomplete and there are still persons who may be deceived;
as in the use of the message that one is ‘not at home’ to an
inconvenient visitor.