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BS: What words say, and don't say (political
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BS: What words say, and don't say (political |
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Subject: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: dick greenhaus Date: 01 Jan 13 - 02:27 PM I've been interested in how recent polital sloganeering matches up with the appendix in Orwell's 1984 appendix on NewSpeak---which should be required reading for anyone that's ever going to cast a vote for anything. "Right to Work" is a neat way of phrasing "Right to Work for less money", while "Pro-Life" sounds so much pleasanter than "Anti-Choice". Conrariwise, "Death Tax" is a more fear-provoking term than "Estate Tax", while "Job Creators" makes "Rich Folks" more appealing. I'm using Republican examples because the GOP is much better at re-branding than the Dems are. Can anyone think of some more examples, from any group? BTW I've recently noted that the opposite of PROgress is CONgress. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Little Hawk Date: 01 Jan 13 - 02:37 PM Good point. There are many of these Newspeak expressions in common use nowadays by both liberals and conversatives (with generally opposite purposes in mind). Advertising is also full of Newspeak. For example: "life insurance" is really "death insurance", and everybody knows it. They call it "life insurance", because people are scared stiff of death, and they figure it would cost them a lot of sales to utter the words "death insurance" to people. As for the USA's Department of Defense...it's really the Department of Attack, and that is plainly obvious to just about everyone outside the borders of the USA (as well as a fair number inside those borders). One last...and this is intended as a joke...The Department of Health and Welfare might better be replaced by the "Department of Wealth and Hellfare", just so we really know where we all stand. ;-D |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: GUEST Date: 01 Jan 13 - 03:00 PM This has a lot to do with verbal framing which George Lakoff, the linguistics professor at Berkeley covers expertly. Frank Luntz is one of the GOP operatives which has promoted many Orwellian phrases mentioned above. What you are doing by changing the words is reframing the debate on these issues which is a good thing to do. For example, "guns don't kill people" should read "people with guns kill people". There is nothing in the Second Amendment that says "the government wants to take away your guns." It should say "the government has the right to regulate the sales of firearms and abolish semi-automatic attack weapons". "Global warming" is a better, more scientifically accurate term than "climate change". "Make the world safe for democracy" could be rephrased, "make the world safe for democracy by starting at home with the United States". The "fiscal cliff" could be rephrased as "the fiscal fraud". Or "the meaningless fearful cliff". "I'm not political" should be changed to "I don't care about politics". "bank robbers" could be now called "the robber banks". "Wall Street" could be called "walled street" (inaccessible to the public). The GOP are hoarding "entitlements" whereas the public wants their "rights". Healthcare is a "right". Social Security, paid in by taxpayers is a "right". Welfare is a "right" that a decent society supports. "Support the troops" can be changed to "support the troops by bringing them home" The Republican wealthy are the "takers" and the working people are the "makers". Reframing these words is a wonderful idea and takes a little creativity as shown above by Dick and L.H. We can beat Frank Luntz at his own game. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 01 Jan 13 - 03:04 PM I'd be inclined to see 'pro choice' and 'pro life' as very similar in this respect. Both avoid the question 'whose life' and 'whose choice'. 'Real' and 'organic' are also examples of words used to short-circuit thinking. Real Ale isn't actually any more real than the crap stuff, organic food isn't any more organic than processed rubbish. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Little Hawk Date: 01 Jan 13 - 03:22 PM Most slogans are designed to instantly dumb down and stereotype an issue and make people stop thinking and just divide up into opposing sides. "Pro-choice" and "Pro-life" are both examples of that. The question is "choice of what, when, how, and for exactly what reasons and under what conditions?", whereas to state that you are Pro-Life suggests that all the people who don't agree with you are against life, which is pretty ridiculous. Virtually everyone is Pro-life in a general sense. (at least I hope so!) You have to talk to people in some depth to find out what they are actually concerned about. You can't sum it up in a 2-word slogan of some kind. Most people want fairness, justice, good health for all, prosperity for all, safe streets and homes, fair prices on goods, a fair wage for all, a stable currency, an honest government...etc. But they have very different ideas about how to get there, and they're frightened by different "ghosts" in their respective closets. Politicians know this, they play on people's fears and use those fears to get themselves elected. Advertisers do much the same thing, but they do it to make the sale...they want you to be afraid that you don't measure up to some imaginary standard unless you buy their stuff! And that you'll be happy once you do buy it. And that's pretty sad. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Genie Date: 01 Jan 13 - 10:23 PM I refuse to call Social Security and Medicare "entitlements," lumping them into the same category as Medicaid. The term has a strong negative connotation and seems, to many, to suggest that they are something the government is required to hand out to people who had done nothing to deserve them. I also avoid terms like: ~"pro-life" ~"job creators" (especially when applied to big corporations and rich people) ~"women's lib" (it's a dismissive diminutive) ~"right-to-work" (It usually means "right to lower wages" and/or "right to freeload") ~"all-natural" - as applied to consumer products ~"organic" - in most contexts, because its meaning is seldom clear ~"fiscal cliff" - a fabrication or melodramatization of the media ~"conservative" and "liberal" - most political contexts, as the terms seldom enhance our understanding of issues or positions |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Rapparee Date: 01 Jan 13 - 11:36 PM "Conflict" instead of "War" "Passed on" or "over" instead of "died" "Expecting" instead of "pregnant" We do use some terms to make life more tolerable. Polite fictions lubricate the social wheels. But it can be taken too far. Not all bosses grind their workers under the iron heel of capitalism any more than all union workers walk in lockstep with the union bosses (do they grind their rank and file...never mind). The first time I heard a food called "organic" I thought, "Well, yeah, it's from a carbon-based life form. Most life on Earth IS organic." I really did think that. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: dick greenhaus Date: 01 Jan 13 - 11:52 PM Organic food is food where all the added chemicals are organic chemicals. I won't start in with "folk" and "Traditional" |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: GUEST,Stim Date: 02 Jan 13 - 02:08 AM "Organic" when used connection with agricultural products, has a very specific meaning, and producers cannot use the word "Organic" unless they have been certified by the USDA according to standards set by the National Organics Standards Board. The following definition of "organic" was passed by the NOSB at its April 1995 meeting in Orlando, FL. "Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony. 'Organic' is a labeling term that denotes products produced under the authority of the Organic Foods Production Act. The principal guidelines for organic production are to use materials and practices that enhance the ecological balance of natural systems and that integrate the parts of the farming system into an ecological whole. Organic agriculture practices cannot ensure that products are completely free of residues; however, methods are used to minimize pollution from air, soil and water. Organic food handlers, processors and retailers adhere to standards that maintain the integrity of organic agricultural products. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people." |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Jan 13 - 11:48 AM So...you object to "passed on", Rap? How do you feel about: "croaked" "kicked the bucket" "cashed in his chips" "bought the farm" |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Penny S. Date: 02 Jan 13 - 12:00 PM I do notice the redrafting of words by the right more often than the left - unless the extreme left where they join up with the extreme right round the back, and I can't recall any examples at the moment because I haven't been anywhere where the left has been talking lately. Welfare - the root implies a good. It is now on the way to meaning a process by which the skivers extract money from the strivers. (Pity those words rhyme.) Refugee - it used to mean a person who had a good reason for seeking a safe place from awful things happening where they came from. It became a smear on people who came here implying that they wanted our money. It was replaced, for that reason, presumably, by Asylum seeker - same original meaning as refugee, gone down the same road. There was another word I recently noticed having been Newspeaked, but it's gone for the moment - worrying. One needs to keep track of this sort of thing. Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: dick greenhaus Date: 02 Jan 13 - 01:02 PM I'm familiar with the NOSB's definition of "organic". Is there a legal compulsion for anufacturers and farmers to use that definition? And, a couple of the most annoying obfuscatory words and phrases (IMO) are "entitlements" , "clean" (as in coal).and "natural". One can add accurate but irrelevant verbiage such as "free of gluten" (for products that never had any) |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 02 Jan 13 - 01:16 PM In UK we have something called LCP, the Liverpool Care Pathway. It's a way of killing very sick people by withdrawing all food and water until they thirst or starve to death. (Saves money) Anything less of a Care Pathway I couldn't imagine, unless one stifled them with a pillow. There is also the expression 'He/she lost their battle with cancer', as if they didn't fight hard enough, and their demise was entirely their own fault. I also like 'triage', a newish word for very underqualified people glancing briefly at accident and emergency cases, then putting them in a cubicle for many hours until they are practically on the point of death, before a doctor also gets to glance at them. They do, though, attach a small clip thing to their thumb, which is a great comfort to all. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: dick greenhaus Date: 02 Jan 13 - 04:46 PM The latest seems to be "sequestration", which means, essentially " We don't know how to fix it, so let's stall; maybe something will come up" |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Rapparee Date: 02 Jan 13 - 08:22 PM Gee, Dick, I thought the word for that was "Congress." LH: How about "vitally challenged"? I just object because I see so often in the obituaries around here that someone "passed away peacefully in the arms of his loving family" or "was gathered to the arms of His Savior" or "went to his Heavenly Home"? Believe it or not, the "passed away peacefully" was used last summer for a man who burned to death in a wildfire -- possibly, but not likely. But as I said, we need to lubricate the wheels of reality. Personally, I want my obit (if any) to say, "...died kicking and screaming and bitching about how unfair it all was and why him?" |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Ed T Date: 02 Jan 13 - 08:41 PM "Sustainable" is getting mis-used (and commercialized) so much that it is rapidly losing its original meaning. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Rapparee Date: 02 Jan 13 - 09:12 PM Low intensity conflict: violent peace Vertical insertion: parachute drop Friendly casualties Assume an offensive position: attack Incapacitory agent: gas attack Orderly transition between career changes: unemployed Personnel reduction activities: firing people Performance (corporate): profits Virtual, virtually: non-existent in the real world |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Rapparee Date: 02 Jan 13 - 09:16 PM Oh, yeah, LH. How about if I go belly up, bite the dust, bow out, buy it, check out, conk out, cop it, exit, give up the ghost, go home in a box, go west, kick off, kick the bucket, push up daisies, slip my cable or turn up my toes? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: MarkS Date: 03 Jan 13 - 11:16 AM Right to Work could also be called Freedom of Association. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Little Hawk Date: 03 Jan 13 - 11:24 AM Any of those would work, Rap! ;-) How about just "expire"? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: GUEST,Stim Date: 03 Jan 13 - 12:23 PM Dick, sorry to take so long to get back, but, yep--unless you are certified, you cannot use the term "organic", under penalty of law. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: Rapparee Date: 04 Jan 13 - 10:06 AM What does that do to organic chemistry? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What words say, and don't say (political From: GUEST,Stim Date: 04 Jan 13 - 04:10 PM As long as you don't eat it, you're fine. |
