This is my favorite kind of wordplay—not decorative, but diagnostic. The le/al distinction doesn’t just clean up copy; it reveals character. A principal without principles is basically a job title in search of a moral backbone. And someone principled—title or not—usually ends up doing the real leading anyway. Funny how that works.
This is my favorite kind of wordplay—not decorative, but diagnostic. The le/al distinction doesn’t just clean up copy; it reveals character. A principal without principles is basically a job title in search of a moral backbone. And someone principled—title or not—usually ends up doing the real leading anyway. Funny how that works.
Thanks for this one — sharp all the way through!
Well put! And you're right about wordplay, too. A pun can be fun, but a well-handled trope keeps on giving.
The irony here is that someone who truly leads from first principles naturally dissolves the desire or need to be the principal!
Another counterintuitive truth!