politics

Mugwumps, Bailiwicks, and Pregnant Chads: The Vocabulary of Politics

Niall O'Donnell 13 Comments

Today is Election Day for my neighbours across the Irish Sea (not to mention a day of infamy for Donald Trump as James Comey testifies), and it looks like child’s-drawing-of-a-parent’s-description-of-a-nightmare-about-Margaret-Thatcher Theresa May will win. Not too surprising though. What was surprising for some people though was when Foreign Secretary and rejected-Monty-Python-sketch-character Boris Johnson called Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a mutton-headed mugwump early on in the election. By mugwump, Johnson meant someone who remains aloof or independent from party politics. The term has a long history, originating from a Massachusett Native-American word for war leader. The term was applied to Republican Activists in the 1884 American Presidential Election who supported the Democrat nominee Grover Cleveland. They were rejecting the political corruption of Republican candidate James G. Blaine, and were ironically nicknamed mugwumps to imply that they were sanctimonious in their removal of themselves from party politics. Mugwump is just one of the many interesting words associated with the world of politics and elections, such as:

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Covfefe

Niall O'Donnell 18 Comments

By now you might be aware of Donald Trump’s latest addition to the English language: covfefe. If you haven’t heard yet, at 12:06am Washington time last night, the President of the United States tweeted:

Despite the negative press covfefe

…and that was it! Obviously he was deliberately tantalising us with this new word he’d coined, throwing it out into the world and waiting for us to figure out its meaning based on subtle clues he’s left, while he slept soundly. Here are some of my ideas:

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Using Apostrophes and the Future of English in Europe

Niall O'Donnell 10 Comments

English has long been fashionable to use in other languages. For teenagers and young adults, it’s the language of a lot of their pop culture, as well as being an international lingua franca, that can help one connect with people all around the world. That’s why, especially across Europe, you’ll find little bits of English peppered throughout people’s speech.

Naturally, this isn’t always going to be accurate in terms of native speakers’ usage, but that’s not so important. I’ve noticed recently though, an apparent trend in how non-native speakers use English that’s a little bit curious, because it reflects one of the ways in which native speakers make mistakes in English.

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The English Language and Social Class

Niall O'Donnell 10 Comments

I’ve still been thinking about common mispronunciations since Saturday. While doing a little casual googling to confirm what I suspected about which mispronunciations annoyed people, I came across a post which featured some of the more common language errors that bedevil Americans in particular. They were all there: supposably, libary, literally, irregardless, aks et al. And I can understand why they might be annoying. If you say one thing, and someone else says another, that’s annoying. Even more so if the dictionary agrees with you. Getting annoyed is ok, but are such errors really a sign of the death of the English language?

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Hear, Hear!

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

This is a phrase that’s very easy to misspell. I find my instinct is always to write here here, and I have remind myself that the phrase is actually hear hear. Obviously it’s confusing because the two words are homophones: words that sound identical, but have different meanings. Plus, we use it when we agree strongly with something, and neither hear nor here are normally used in that sense on their own. Where does this phrase come from? Continue reading →

Politics and the English Language

Niall O'Donnell 14 Comments

If the ban were announced with a one week (sic) notice, the “bad” would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad “dudes” out there! – Donald Trump, 30/01/17

First of all, it’s not a travel ban – Sean Spicer, 31/01/17

Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind – George Orwell, 1946

When is a ban not a ban? Continue reading →

The Best Words

Niall O'Donnell 20 Comments

I don’t like to get too overtly political in this blog. While I think everyone should be conscious of what’s going on around them, ultimately this blog is language-focussed, and I prefer to keep it that way. And while it’s hard not to avoid politics at the moment, I want to take a brief look at Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, but specifically the words he uses. Continue reading →