Ombudsman is a heavy lurching kind of a word, and an ombudsman sounds as if he's going to be a lumpen, awkward kind of a person: the sort of man (other genders are available) whose suit should have gone to the dry-cleaners several months before.
His (ogaa) job is to negotiate in disputes between members of the public and officials, but the title alone is surely enough to drain any poor complainant of hope.
Perhaps that's the point of it.
And, anyway, what is an ombud?
Sunday Rest: ombudsman. This word is Swedish (and the Swedes invented the job). It means representative, and it may well be a word of great elegance when spoken with a Swedish accent.
The word comes from the Old Norse umboth, commission, and mathr, which means man.
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