- Politicians and the media are perpetually corrupting
the language. I was reminded of that yet again when the New York City mayor,
understandably excited, described the shooting of a city councilman as
an "attack on democracy."
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- No it wasn't. The councilman, God rest his soul, was
killed by some guy who apparently had a grudge against him. It was private
murder that just happened to occur in a public place. It was not an attack
against the institution or even the City Council itself, much less against
democracy.
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- So many people play loose with the language that it is
being robbed of its meaning. That matters. What distinguishes humans is
the ability to communicate at a high level of abstraction. Knowledge is
preserved in language. Parents civilize their children with language. Both
public and private businesses are conducted with language. Without it,
we would not have a civilization worth the name.
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- More importantly, we think with language. Inarticulate
people are inarticulate thinkers. Thinking is the means of human survival.
We don't have the claws and teeth of the lion or the strength of the bear
and the gorilla. We don't have keen eyesight and a keen sense of smell.
We have a brain that enables us to think. How successful we are at survival
is directly linked to how successfully we can think.
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- It's no accident that low-class criminals (yes, there
is a social hierarchy among criminals) such as thugs and armed robbers
almost always demonstrate a language deficit. They can't think clearly.
Otherwise, they wouldn't do stupid things like risking life in prison to
steal $50 from a convenience store when they can make far more than that
on welfare or by panhandling, without any risks at all.
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- Sometimes language is corrupted for benign reasons. Since
the 9-11 attacks, everybody who wears a uniform, whether they are a cop,
a firefighter or a soldier, has been called a hero. The original meaning
of that word, however, is someone who performs an extraordinary feat ÷
not someone who just does his or her duty.
-
- In World War I, Alvin York knocked out five German machine-gun
positions and captured nearly 200 German soldiers by himself. In World
War II, Audie Murphy, though severely wounded, single-handedly stopped
a German counterattack, killing about 155 enemy soldiers. They were heroes.
Go to the library and read the citations of Medal of Honor winners, and
you will see what I mean.
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- If we use the word "hero" merely as a term
of affection or respect, what word will we use to describe someone who
performs extraordinary feats? I'm glad those terrible attacks reminded
people how valuable police, firefighters and our military people are, but
we should reserve the word "hero" for those among them who perform
"above and beyond the call of duty."
-
- Unfortunately, most of the corruption of language is
done for the purpose of deliberately obscuring the truth. When President
George Bush said that terrorists hate freedom, he was avoiding the truth,
which is that it is our foreign policy the terrorists hate. Some people
use the word "racism" to avoid facing the truth that somebody
has just done something wrong and gotten caught. Some people cry "anti-Semitism"
just to avoid answering legitimate criticism of Israel's policies. Others
shout "partisan politics" to avoid answering legitimate criticism
of their favorite politicians.
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- Whether a civilization is on the rise or in decline can
be measured by use of language.
-
- Hello. Duh. Ya know, dude, like maybe we oughta pay more
attention to, like, the words, you know, that we use.
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- © 2003 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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- http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20030728/index.php
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