Back in the day, comedian George Carlin did a scandalous routine about the “Seven Dirty Words” that shocked almost everyone. He explicated sexual terms in a way that either made you laugh or made you reach for your Bible.
Opinion
A few years prior, Lenny Bruce did an impromptu comedy set where he poked holes in racially charged words to show us how our language has the power to wound if we don’t use it with wisdom.
Both Carlin and Bruce should be required course material in any English Comp 101 or Introductory Civics classroom.
I, myself, sometimes sprinkle scatological words in my opinion pieces because quite often they are the most effective tools for the task at hand. For instance, at my former publication, I wrote a piece on Frank “Oral” Eathorne, the former GOP state chairman. In said piece, I used a street synonym for an intimate act that rhymes with “snowbob.”
The editor didn’t censor that piece and published it intact. But I received a cordial request to minimize my use of that word in future columns. I haven’t used the word @#$%&# in a column since.
Occasionally, a reader will push back against my use of the word “goddam” as an emphatic modifier. They say that is taking the Lord’s name in vain. I disagree.
To me, the only way to violate the third commandment in the Decalogue is to swear an oath using God’s name (like an oath for a political office), then to piss on that oath through official performance. Or perhaps another way is for politicians to cloak themselves in God’s name to gain worldly power. Goddamn ‘em!
That brings us to the language we use today in our civil discourse. A lot of terms that, in years past, were benign or neutral have, through political misuse, assumed a darker, more sinister semantic impact. The words are spelled the same, but the effects they have on us have changed.
These are the new dirty words, in no particular order.
“Grassroots” used to mean “of the common folks, widespread, holding the thin soil of Wyoming in place against a fierce wind.” The word has been co-opted by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus to the point that it has lost its meaning as a descriptor of the prairie landscape, and now means nothing more than an isolated patch of locoweed or larkspur in the corner of a dry pasture.
“Conservative” once denoted a political ethos exemplified by Mr. Conservative, Barry Goldwater, that emphasized fiscal restraint, individual freedom coupled with personal responsibility, reliance on the free market and a skepticism toward central government. The root meaning of the word has been bastardized by those who want to use it as a means of division, of control. “Conservative” now is less of an honest political movement, and more the team name on a bowling shirt.
“Common sense” was once self-explanatory. But, through devious misuse, it now means little more than adherence to a right-wing point of view. It seems as if everything is seen through a political lens these days, and that lens distorts our words.
“Equal” and “Equality” are mathematical expressions of equivalency, defined in the Equality State’s Constitution as “all members of the human race are equal.” Yet the term is used as a lever by both the right and the left to push us to one side of the political spectrum or the other. That, to me, is bait-and-switch semantic dishonesty and profanity.
“Freedom” and “Liberty” are the most basic of human impulses. But these words have been prostituted by the “Freedom” Caucus and Moms for “Liberty.” They are now used in political propaganda as nothing more than sweeteners for a program of authoritarian control — control over what we can read, how we can pray (or not), how we can use our bodies, what we can say, how we can vote, what our children can learn and who we can love. Goddamn the hypocrisy!
“Patriot” once described brave citizens who were willing to sacrifice their lives to resist tyranny. Those folks built our republic. Now the word is self-applied by apologists of despotism who hide behind keyboards and wouldn’t recognize true patriotism if it bit ‘em in the ass.
There are other words in our language that have similarly been hijacked by dark political forces, and their intrinsic meanings polluted by partisan hyperbole. I think you’ll recognize them when you see them.
So the next time you see this new profanity used in a politician’s press release, on a website or in a flashy mailer that shows up in your mailbox, plastered with buzzwords that appeal to base emotions, ask yourself a simple question. What does it REALLY mean?
Love it! Words are powerful. Say what you mean and mean what you say; not much is more American than that
Bazinga!
Liberty, n. One of Imagination’s most precious possessions.
There’s more truth in this opinion piece than I’ve read in a long long time.
Rod – thanks for the comments – have always enjoyed your writing. Look, we have what we have in our state legislature because of “reaction.” Remember Isaac Newton’s studies: “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction; or, the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and directed to contrary parts.” Wyoming citizens, the “majority” voted for our current legislature because of a reaction to having a “minority rule” shoved down our throats, e.g., men in women’s sports, men in women’s changing rooms, unthrottled abortion, illegal immigration, etc., etc. With all that said, I like your analysis of words — but then, when we have a society, both conservative and liberal who do not go to the dictionary to see what the Platonic definition is of words and manipulate populations with nuanced changes to meanings, look what we get. Wyoming is fed up with the leftist manipulation of words as well as the rightist misuse. Time to get back to a balance. One note: we need to get away from the term “Common Sense.” Let’s start using “Reasonable Sense,” thinking that reasons through the challenges we have today.
Sir,
Your comments are as good as the original piece, if not better. Well stated.
I’m certainly enjoying Rod Miller’s columns — what day brighteners in these dark times! His discussion of how the word “patriot” has been hi-jacked by current politicians and their supporters reminded me of a quote I learned years ago, and still appreciate: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Samuel Johnson, 1775.
Rod Miller has gotten it right in pointing out the hijacking of certain words for political purposes. But he left out a real puzzler when it comes to twisted meanings for a simple four letter word. I never knew “woke” could be used to describe so many different viewpoints. While it has its roots in the Deep South from 100+ years ago it now seems to refer to anything deemed progressive by conservatives. While I view it as a compliment, I realize it’s not meant to be.
In answer to your question: “What does it REALLY mean?”
Most of the time in the deployment of propaganda, the misused words are subtle insults to our intelligence. The perpetrators assume we are stupid enough to believe an actual valid meaning exists pertaining to their cause–intended to draw our initial attention, before springing the trap of an unrelated agenda.
Very well said!
Rod has it right…ever since George W Bush prostituted the words, Freedom, Liberty, and Patriot, I will not patronize any business with these names as they speak to me of lies used to justify bad policies and wars like Iraq. Bush lied us into that with his and Colin Powell’s “weapons of mass destruction” fear mongering to the tune of massive cost in human lives and money.
Rod’s comments are spot on regarding today’s political discourse… George Orwell would be nodding his head in agreement. My old Civics and English teachers are probably rolling over in their graves with the corruption of these words by some factions to support personal agendas, or those who think that anyone who disagrees with their narrow views and beliefs need to be shut down or shut out. Diversity of all types used to be one of this country’s strengths and source of growth rather than the current catch words to put others down. Respectful disagreement and discourse has become a lost art.
Mr. Miller, I quite agree with your view that the word “conservative”, in particular, has lost its literal meaning in today’s parlance. In Barry Goldwater’s day, and beyond, being “conservative” meant that the candidate, or the ordinary person, believed that the government should, among other things, “live within its means.” Today’s Congressional “conservatives” are now happily signing off on astoundingly huge budgets and plunging the country into even greater national debt, while simultaneously granting massive tax cuts to the billionaires. What is “conservative” about that? Nothing. The same lack of actual “conservatism” is seen in many other ideological areas. I say let’s call these things what they are: “radical” and even anti-constitutional. Think of, for example, poorly trained ICE agents picking up legal residents and American citizens off the streets for deportation, by mistake. Not to mention illegally seizing such people’s belongings. Or the president himself refusing to return one such illegally seized person from a hellhole prison in El Salvador, despite being told to do so by the US Supreme Court and the lower court, repeatedly. All of that is radical to the extreme yet it masquerades as the actions of a “conservative” administration. Far from it!
Yes, sir, Rod. You nailed it. But how do we, um, discourage the hijacking of terms? And who is the ultimate arbiter?
You even made me laugh. I think of the christian cross hanging on the neck of a ‘conservative’ or more pointedly, on a rightwing christian goofball like members of the freedom caucus. The cross used to symbolize a belief in a higher being, now it’s on the neck of lower beings. That’s what happens when you fall for VERY bad people and politics like that of the orange menace.