“the T-word”

“the T-word” is the euphemism Myfanwy enforces for terrorism during the Reading crisis, turning a choice of language into an operational rule. The organization’s public cover story is that hostages are involved; explicitly naming terrorism, she warns, would complicate the response and provoke the heads and Bishops.

The Ban in the Reading Crisis

When Ingrid reports that the cover story is hostages, she adds that no one has used the T-word. Myfanwy immediately makes the restraint absolute: no one is to use it at all, and she insists that it must not pass anyone’s lips. Her concern is practical as well as institutional: calling the situation terrorism would make everything more complicated, while the heads and Bishops would hold her responsible.

An Existing Organizational Directive

Ingrid reminds Myfanwy that Bishop Grantchester had already warned the organization against using the term. Myfanwy explains that the warning followed a lengthy conference with the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. The Rooks then endured a four-hour lecture; Myfanwy says she was spared it, while the former Myfanwy Thomas responded by writing thirteen pages of single-spaced diatribe.

Secrecy and Public Explanation

The euphemism sits alongside a wider effort to manage what the public is told. Myfanwy orders Ingrid to ensure that the Rookery Liars prepare a rational excuse for the events, rejecting the suggestion that the explanation could be simply that the people involved are crazy. The T-word ban therefore does more than avoid a politically charged label: it helps preserve a controlled account of a crisis whose real circumstances the organization is trying to conceal.