It's amazing how much the President sets the tone for the nation. Carter's inclusiveness and moderation, Reagan's divisiveness on race relations and poverty, Clinton's blow-dried but open-minded demeanor; and G.W. Bush's macho behavior all rubbed off on the American public and our behavior and language. When the President disregards the poor and punishes those who stray from what is considered normal, people in positions of power treat those less fortunate with a certain condescension. When the President is warm and inclusive, and calls all Americans to sacrifice and serve, the weak often feel more empowered to challenge those above. It's amazing how much the language of our time will change depending on who is defining the terms of national discourse.
What has driven me the most nuts about the current administration, is the way they have changed the language we use. It's bad enough that overly-macho gun-toting holier-than-thou fake Christians feel that they need to invade our privacy on every level, or that roided-out south Jersey guys now feel the need to pick fights with skinny intellectuals like me at Turnpike rest-stops. But now I have to listen to the same collection of bull-sh*t phrases over and over for 8 f*cking years? I can't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!
The following are a few phrases that Bush administration political people have DELIBERATELY forced into the public dialogue to suit their needs:
embolden
EXAMPLE: "Over the last several decades, we've seen that any concession or retreat on our part will only embolden this enemy and invite more bloodshed."
This word has become overused and mis-used thanks to Bushco. I actually heard a news anchor say something like "perhaps these policies will embolden children to seek more avenues of learning." WTF?
Bring it on! I actually saw a commercial for a pharmaceutical product or something where at the end, an elderly woman cackled this phrase in the general direction of her illness. I say this every evening when I'm staring at a bottle of Oban.
I'm at war and the scotch is winning.
war on terror How do you declare war on a NOUN? It is a war against terrorists, or a war to end terrorism, not a war on terra. Why are the news media and the public so quick to adopt these malapropisms?
the blame game
EXAMPLE: You know, David, there are some that are interested in playing the blame game. The President is interested in solving problems and getting help to the people who need it.
A Scotty favorite. This is used to invalidate any criticism. When I'm on trial for being a threat to freedom everywhere, or tresspassing or whatever, I can say to the judge: "Now is not the time to play the blame game, your honor."
evildoers/axis of evil Language designed to tickle the hearts of all those fake-ass dummies who think the world is ending and we are in a final struggle between good and evil. Perhaps they have it backwards -- the fundies are the evil and we are the good. In any case, it is all clear to them -- all in black-n-white. As long as these fools don't have to meet anyone who actually LIVES in the third world, they won't have to know how silly it is to label a whole country as "evil". P.S. are people who give water to dying Mexicans crossing the Arizona desert "evil-doers?" Yes because impoverished near-death Mexicans are terrorists.
hard work/working hard
EXAMPLE: "Look, this is hard work. It's hard to advance freedom in a country that has been strangled by tyranny. And yet we must stay the course because the end result is in our nation's interest."
Life is hard work. And yet it is so easy. just be nice to as many people as you can. Kill them with kindness, then buy them a drink. What's so hard about not vetoing a single bill? Sounds easy to me. Guess it's all that brush-clearing.
spread freedom/freedom was attacked Can we actually spread freedom? You can spread ideas. You can promote freedom. Ideas can spread by themselves. This, however, makes it sound like a new buttery concoction that can only be sold by Fabio.
insurgents Who ever heard of this word before a few years ago? The word is REBELS. What the hell is an insurgent?
resolute
EXAMPLE: "Yet, in this conflict, there is no safe alternative to resolute action."
There is little worse, than hearing this word creep into everyday speech when it was hardly used in the lexicon of American speech before 2001. I am resolute in my feeling that we must forget this word. Whatever happened to "determined"?
some others: "up or down vote" "I thank you for your hard work in freedom's cause." "IEDs" (when is a bomb not a bomb?)
The Repugs are great at common-man phrasiology -- I'll give them that. But the phrases should at least be English, or an accepted variation of English.
I long for the day when these phrases become passe like "outside the box" or "personal responsibility."
Please take the time to add in the comment section the Bush administration phrases which most irk you. I particularly want to be reminded of the ones that have crept into our national discoure so that I may make a mental note never to utter them again.