Thom Hartmann: The Secret list of 14 words

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 06:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIRQP83wJro   Posted on YouTube: November 02, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 196   Posted on DU: November 02, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 1250

 
How a game of "words" has given Republicans election after election...but at the same time - ruined a tradition of thoughtful political discourse in America.

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[MineralMan]

1. It's not a secret. It's marketing speak.

Anyone who writes marketing materials, as I do, either learns how to use words for their emotional impact or fails. It's just that the Republicans are instructing people with no marketing sense what to say and what not to say. Any competent copywriter just does this automatically. English offers many words that mean essentially the same thing. It is the underlying emotional meaning that changes thinking, not the dictionary meaning.

What are you having for dinner? Pork or pig? Croaker or Corvina? Pigeon or Squab? Snails or Escargot? And why do those words carry different meanings? The answer is in the linguistics of English. It's not all that difficult to learn, but most people don't think that way.

[izquierdista]

3. Shall we go get fried cow?

As my (Indian) boss would inquire when the group was getting ready to go to lunch.

[MineralMan]

4. Yes, Cow and Beef.

Anglo-Saxon vs. French. A lot of English food words have that split nature. Comes from the time when French was spoken in the English royal court, while the hoi polloi were speaking English in the villages. It's really funny that it still is part of the meaning of our words.

[ut oh]

2. I got a new one for the 1%'ers ...

Financial Leeches