The bar has put in a huge amount of effort in recent years to come across as a modern, dynamic, forward-looking profession. However, just occasionally, the guard drops and it reverts to type. Evidence for this comes from a report of recent disciplinary tribunal proceedings, which - in the long-standing barrister tradition of never using one word when several will do - contained the following line: 'The defendant drove a mechanically propelled vehicle, namely a Mercedes motor vehicle, on a road, namely Hatton Garden, dangerously.' Clearly a certain word, namely 'car', has yet to enter the everyday lexicon of m'learned friends.