Posts tagged as:

political campaigns

EPITHET [EP-uh-thet] : an especially apt description or label, or, a slur or abusive term

January 6, 2013

Words are frequently mis-understood, especially in the heat of argument.   How’s that for an understatement? But when a word is mis-characterized due to an overabundance of abuse and ignorance, the mis-understanding is regrettable but correctable.  Such is the case for the word epithet. Epithet is a word commonly understood to mean a negative or abusive [...]

Read the full article →

REPORTAGE [rep-awr-TAHZH]: a written report of an act, based upon actual witnessing or research

November 30, 2012

It is possible to pronounce reportage as [ri-PAWR-tij], but I love the way the more French pronunciation sounds, so I prefer [rep-awr-TAHZH], with the accent on last syllable.   It is a 19th century word, obviously from the French language.   Its meaning is simple:  it means to report something, usually in writing. I mention this word [...]

Read the full article →

IMBROGLIO [im-BROHL-yoh] : a confused or perplexing political or interpersonal situation

November 4, 2012

I’ve always considered the word imbroglio to mean a “battle.”   It seems that the occasional time when the word appears it is about a heated debate or even an outright fight. But it turns out that the word has a much broader meaning, referred to a confusion or a misunderstanding.   It is derived from an [...]

Read the full article →

DEBUNK [dih-BUHNGHK] : to expose the falseness of a statement

October 20, 2012

There is a lot of energy out there among people who are into debunking stories such as those about Sasquatch, the hairy half-human being who supposedly inhabits forested areas throughout the country.   I read this past week that a specially-equipped surveillance plane is going to be used to hover over suspected domains where Sasquatch is [...]

Read the full article →

STRATAGEM [STRAT-uh-juhm]: a plan to overcome an adversary

August 2, 2012

There really isn’t a great difference between the words stratagem and strategy. According to the sources I researched, it is a matter of age.  Stratagem is the more ancient term, having come into use in English in the 15th century, and the more common strategy having emerged in the early 19th century.*  In contemporary American [...]

Read the full article →

PULLED OUT ALL THE STOPS: make every possible effort

January 5, 2012

When Rick Santorum blasted his way through Iowa on Tuesday to attain a virtual tie for the most vote-getters in the 2012 Iowa Republican Caucus, someone commented that he had “pulled out all the stops” over a concentrated period of time.  It seemed to pay off as the candidate who had been running in the [...]

Read the full article →

November 1, 2011

For several years now there has been a public response to the presence of bullies in schools, organizations, sports, communities.   There seems to be a natural aversion to anyone who uses size, power, strength, or words to diminish the life of a weaker person.  In the past year or so we have seen children take [...]

Read the full article →

DELIQUESCE: to melt away, disappear

October 22, 2011

While the word deliquesce (pronounced del-a-kwes) is usually used in science to describe the concept of something melting away, like an ice cube, it also has literary applications.  It can be used (as a verb) to describe the concept of an issue fading from prominence. For instance, a recent New York Times article about the [...]

Read the full article →

STUMP SPEECH: a prepared political presentation which is “on message”

August 14, 2011

I suppose that … literally … the photo tells it best.  A stump speech can best be delivered while standing on a tree stump in the midst of an audience.   But the term has come to mean something broader.  A political  stump speech is one prepared by a campaign committee to include the specific, [...]

Read the full article →

RENEGUE*: to go back on one’s word

July 11, 2011

I first learned to use the word renegue when taking lessons in the playing of bridge.   I was taught that it referred to the inappropriate act of playing a card out of sequence, as in trumping someone’s card by failing to follow suit.    If you are not a card player, let me translate that into [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries