I think the change in Administrations is a good time to revamp our political language. And to that end, I wanted to mention a few political phrases that I hope will go the way of the dodo. Perhaps it sounds funny but it isn’t. As Orwell once pointed out when “certain topics are raised, the concrete melts into the abstract and no one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed: prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated henhouse.” (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm ) Below then are some of the phrases I find to be particularly egregious. If we really are going to alter course in this country these phrases have to go.
At The End of the Day. Apparently we will all have to work together at the end of the day. That’s fine. But why can’t we start the day by working together? And what are we doing before the day ends?
Going Forward. Going forward, we will do great things, I’m sure. But that’s not what we mean, is it? What we mean to say is: We messed up. Badly. And now we have to clean up the mess.
Team Player. Have you ever seen a politician who says s/he is not a “team player”? Neither have I. Have you ever seen politicians work together? Neither have I.
In the Dark of Night. Apparently so much legislation gets crafted and passed at midnight that our representatives will now start work only when we, the people, are safe in our beds. Sadly, these secretly devised and passed bills are in no way superior to the oddball piece of legislation that is snuck in during regular business hours.
Outside the Box. Has anyone seen this box? Given how many people are inside it, surely at least one of you has. Once you find it, please let me know where it is. I’d like to go there. It’s where all sorts of people hang out. Apparently.
Transparent. Usually used when describing a piece of legislation that’s being crafted “in the dark of night”. One of the two terms really ought to go, don’t you think? (I would prefer they both go, of course but let’s at least start with one.)
Golden Parachute. We don’t like them. We have made regulations about them. Anyone who receives government funding can’t use them. Good thing too; they’re rather dangerous.
Broad-based Coalition. This is the group of people who get together in the “dark of night” to craft legislation. When some of them can’t make it (because one of them tried jumping out of an airplane wearing a golden parachute) we get a narrow-based coalition.
Level Playing Field. This probably refers to the very big field to which all the lobbyists in DC are invited to make their case. They have been coming there so often that the ground is completely level.
Stakeholders. The people who only matter once every four years (you and me).
At the Table. You can’t expect the lobbyists in that field to just stand around. They need to eat sometime. So they sit down at this table.
I realize these phrases will not be thrown away overnight; they are too deeply ingrained in our political thought. But unless they are discarded—and soon—we will not be able to change the way politics works in this country for the simple reason that we will not be able to say what we mean.
And if we can’t say what we mean, we can’t do what we mean to do.
