Current Use
References to the 'cricket test' now mainly appear in the media in terms of sports fans' direct behaviour rather than as a metaphor - team supported, colours worn, ticket-buying patterns, sportsmanship, nationalities of players, etc.
National identity is now seen to be more flexible than first thought, especially in multicultural, urban societies where people commonly speak two or more languages, and may belong to families formed from multiple cultures. Mutability and complexity of national identity is a major reason for the restriction of the use of the phrase to literal, rather than metaphorical use. The whole issue is also a notably individual one, so that broad claims such as Tebbit's original statement can easily be accused of generalising and stereotyping.
Read more about this topic: Cricket Test
Famous quotes containing the word current:
“Beneath the azure current floweth;
Above, the golden sunlight glows.
Rebellious, the storm it wooeth,
As if the storms could give repose.”
—Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841)
“Through this broad street, restless ever,
Ebbs and flows a human tide,
Wave on wave a living river;
Wealth and fashion side by side;
Toiler, idler, slave and master, in the same quick current glide.”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)