e being patronised:“Quite honestly, Minister, I want a job where I don’t spend endless hours circulating information that isn’t relevant, about subjects that don’t matter to people who aren’t interested. I want a job where there is achievement rather than merely activity. I am tired of pushing paper. I want to be able to point to something and say: ‘I did that.’”Sarcasm is used to cunningly say what is really meant without saying it straight out. What it does say straight out often defiantly contradicts its true meaning:“We must, in my view, always have the right to promote the best man for the job, regardless of sex.”Sir Humphrey makes out that he’s being fair but by calling everyone ‘man’ and then saying ‘regardless of sex’ it appears as a contradiction.The use of dialogue allows the viewer a deeper insight into the characters involved in the show. While the male characters in Yes Minister deny being sexist and claim to be looking out for the best interests of women in the workforce, it is obvious through their use of sexist dialogue that this is not the case. Terms such as ‘feminist touch’ and ‘dear lady’ are frequently used when referring to women throughout the script. Sir Humphrey often uses circumlocution to confuse the issues. Euphemisms are used by many of the Public Servants involved to get around an issue or to make the issue sound better than what it really is:“‘…a pause to regroup, a lull in which to reassess the situation and discuss alternative strategies, a space of time for the mature reflection and deliberation.’‘Yes, you mean drop the whole scheme.’”Attitudes of people who work in the Public Services are cross-examined and mocked. It is shown that many of the people within the Public Services are lazy, only care about their own success, and believe that advancement...
