Just one week into the Trump presidency, the newly inaugurated president and his circle of sycophants are working overtime to convince us that words
Tag: Language
Trump’s tweets: a taxonomy of trouble
We have done such a poor job of processing Donald Trump’s tweets. Our reaction has always been to immediately parse the literal content. Fact-check
Reflections on George Carlin, in the era of Donald Trump
Before capitulating to misanthropy, George Carlin delighted many of us by eviscerating the meritocracy’s treacherous rhetoric. Towards the end of his life, he tragically
Make the pie higher: nostalgia for W in a Trump era
Recent references to Donald Trump’s bizarre ramblings in interview transcripts (Trump’s NYT transcript: Read it, and weep for our country) make one yearn for
New political code words: an unofficial glossary
Politicians have been using code words for many years [Remember “states rights,” one of the all-time classic code words, meaning institutionalized segregation and racism?]
Please don’t call them suffragettes
When the conversation gets around to women’s history, and the subject is women’s struggle to win the right to vote, you’ll often hear the
12 phrases progressives need to ditch, and what to say instead
Sadly, the 40-year campaign by conservatives to take over the political dialogue (and the political system itself) has been a success. Right-wing messaging is
What’s the word of the year for 2011?
Newspapers, linguists, politicos, magazines and blogs are always looking for end-of-year hooks for stories. One perennial favorite is to choose—unilaterally, or via a poll