EVERY OTHER DAY VOCABULARY

Count me less than totally reassured by George Allen's latest response to charges he referred to Blacks as "niggers":

I don't recall every word I've said," Allen told conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity. "But this portrayal that it was part of my everyday vocabulary is false."

Did he just save the word for special occasions? What Allen seems to be maintaining here is that there were at least some situations in which - however much of an effort it may have been - he wouldn't use the word. Maybe even most. Which probably conflicts with accounts that he threw it around at public events in earshot of strangers. But doesn't conflict with the developing sense that not so long ago he saw the word as something other than abominable.