Alan Greenblatt is a GOVERNING correspondent.
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Normally I don't publish off the record remarks, but this one is so charming and innocuous -- and I'll keep the person in question anonymous -- that I really can't see the harm.
Yesterday, I was speaking to a former public official. She mentioned a group that had irked her in office and asked me, "Can I cuss off the record?"
I assured her she could. She said, "They are a pain in the you-know-what."
I then assured her than I did know-what, but told her that whether we were on the record or off, she couldn't really claim to be "cussing."

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