Tony Abbott is not alone in using the word holocaust to score political points. The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has apologised after accusing Labor of creating a “holocaust” in defence industry jobs, with the use of the word slammed by some as offensive.
However, it isn’t the first time the word has been used in such a way in parliament. Using OpenAustralia’s searchable Hansard, which goes back to 2006, we can count the number of times the word has been used, and how. In its more common usage, to refer to the Holocaust, it has been used about 109 times, by members of all parties. It has also been used less frequently to refer to a “nuclear holocaust”. Warning: Why using the term 'coloured' is offensive - BBC Newsbeat. Benedict Cumberbatch has apologised after using the term "coloured" to describe black actors.
He was on a US talk show, explaining that there are more opportunities for black actors in Hollywood than the UK. In a statement he said: "I can only hope this incident will highlight the need for correct usage of terminology that is accurate and inoffensive. " He said the most "shaming aspect" was he was talking about "racial inequality" at the time of his error. So why is the term considered so offensive? Twitter reveals the language of persuasion. As countless political orators have demonstrated, it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.
Using automated text analysis, Cornell researchers have identified an array of features that can make a message more likely to get attention. They tested their ideas on Twitter, where their computer algorithm predicted more accurately than human observers which version of a tweet would be retweeted more. The results might be applied to longer forms of discourse, from essays to getting your idea accepted in a committee meeting. “We’re looking at persuasion everywhere,” said Lillian Lee, professor of computer science and information science. Twitter enabled the researchers to conduct a controlled experiment to eliminate the effects of the popularity of the poster or the topic: Many posters will tweet on the same topic more than once, with different wording.
Why do politicians speak the way they do? Yes, we are judged on our accents. If a Liverpudlian child had aspirations to be a doctor, would the fact that he or she pronounced doctor as if spelt with four cs and not one be a hindrance?
Before even buying the Fisher Price stethoscope, should parents take a surgical scalpel to slice out extraneous consonants and sharpen sloppy vowels? Esther McVey, the Liverpool-born employment minister, has said that people should not feel the need to “neutralise” their accents in order to get ahead in life. Never mind the hyperbolics. Please can I have some less?
In the 1980s, it became fashionable for footballers to talk about “giving 100%” on the pitch, or “being 100% committed” to their clubs.
Before long, this was regularly upgraded to 110%. But even the impossible was soon deemed inadequate. By the 90s, players up and down the country were reportedly putting in 120%, 200% and 300% of their maximum possible effort. The Language Politicians Use Is Damaging Politics With 24 hour news, twitter and every word said by a politician scrutinised, the dominance of spin has left the language used by politicians sterilised.
After Tony Blair was elected as leader of the Labour party, his enforcement of the party line and his emphasis on media relations were seen as the peak of the evolution of spin; something with which New Labour is now, rightly or wrongly, completely synonymous. Spin doctors made the Labour party a formidable electoral force, but what have they meant for the UK's politics as a whole? Ahead of this year's EU Parliament elections I interviewed the Green MEP Jean Lambert; during the interview she told me that she was baffled by the insistent use by mainstream politics of phrases like 'hard working families'. When people in politics say that they 'welcome' a development, such as the recent GDP figures, they tend to use an objective tone, acting as if they have a monopoly on the truth and that what they are saying is absolute fact.
Advertising and Language: The Power of Words. It is possible that the evolution and progress of humanity have, as a deeper root, our communication skills.
The use and abuse of language has allowed us to push our thinking to the outside - or distort its content - and send misleading messages, which in disciplines such as marketing can severely affect the level of persuasion a brand would like to achieve on its consumers. Countless campaigns are developed around the world with the sole purpose of positioning products and generating massive brigades over the shelves on what are the most powerful retail chains in the world. Oscar Pistorius trial: Is it a court of law or a bear pit? Enter the adversarial advocate – Gerrie Nel - Comment - Voices - The Independent.
Sadly, the everyday reality of courtroom drama is more prosaic, with few climactic revelations and even fewer demands by a gavel-banging judge that the spectators settle down or he will clear the court.
So when a new star enters the firmament of public law, we instinctively give him our admiration. Even when it’s in the unpromising environment of North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, South Africa. For two weeks, it was just the Oscar Show. The man on trial for the murder of his girlfriend was all we tuned in to see: Oscar weeping, Oscar puking, Oscar displaying ostentatious remorse, Oscar being hugged by his auntie, Oscar ignoring the glares of Reeva Steenkamp’s family, Oscar with his blandly handsome Afrikaaner face and his needy whine of “my lady” (like Parker the chauffeur addressing Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds) at the end of every reply. Then on Day 18, the court dynamic changed. A wary silence fell. ”I agree, my lady,” the runner told Judge Thokozile Masipa. Skivers v strivers: the argument that pollutes people's minds. Link to video: Skivers v strivers: the benefits debate explained | Animation "Skiver" v "striver".
It suits Cameron's tabloid-slick delivery and Steve Hilton's blue-sky viciousness, but how did it go viral? Why does Ed Miliband now use "striver" as though it were an acceptable way to describe someone, by a stranger's groundless estimation of how hard they are hypothetically trying? The skiver, in opposition parlance, is always unmentioned, yet he lurks; Labour won't tolerate him either, this feckless bogeyman of Westminster's devising.
Saying that a killer ‘snapped’ is not an explanation for domestic violence. By Libby Copeland July 21, 2014 Cassidy Stay, center, is comforted after a funeral service last week for her parents and three siblings, who were shot to death allegedly by Ronald Lee Haskell.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip) When Ronald Lee Haskell was accused of killing six members of his ex-wife’s family in Texas this month, I wondered how long it would take for a news report to suggest that the suspect had “snapped.” Calling teachers Sir and Miss 'depressing and sexist' 14 May 2014Last updated at 01:20 ET Calling teachers "Sir" or "Miss" is depressing, sexist and gives women in schools a lower status than their male counterparts, an academic has said. Prof Jennifer Coates told the Times Educational Supplement "Sir is a knight... but Miss is ridiculous - it doesn't match Sir at all".
Using the word 'gay' to mean 'crap' is a form of bullying of gay people. I like to think I'm down with youth culture and its slang. Well, a bit anyway. I understand that the word "sick" can mean "cool", and "bare" can mean "a lot". This is pretty much the limit of my knowledge. The Lingua File: Remembering September 11: How One Day Changed the Way We Speak. As anyone with a calendar will know, yesterday was September 11. Thirteen years have passed since the terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and for many, the memories are still fresh in their minds. Like most catastrophic events, September 11th led to a huge number of cultural changes in the United States and across the world. There were obvious changes, like how air travel security measures changed drastically seemingly overnight.
It wasn't just air travel that changed however, as governments kept busy introducing new legislation to reduce the chances of a similar attack happening in the future. One cultural change that isn't as obvious has been the changes to the English language since 2001, which have been quite astounding. UNSPEAK. HSBC 'demises' jobs – another absurd business euphemism. Body language for cosmetic surgeons.
'Chopping off the end of your nose does not guarantee you a prince'. Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images My memory for the things people say is poor; names are a struggle, as are facts, places, under which clock we were meant to meet and when – but there are some things I'll never forget. Don’t be beguiled by Orwell: using plain and clear language is not always a moral virtue. Orwell season has led me back to his famous essay “Politics and the English Language”, first published in 1946. It is written with enviable clarity. But is it true? Orwell argues that “the great enemy of clear language is insincerity.
Decoding a Menu at Root & Bone. Language in Conflict - Language in Conflict. The state of our union is … dumber: How the linguistic standard of the presidential address has declined. Loaded Words: How Language Shapes The Gun Debate : It's All Politics. John Lanchester: the worst jargon in economics and banking. Office workers use 'pointless jargon' Why do politicians use business jargon? 5 February 2013Last updated at 19:46 ET Going forward. Leverage. Level playing field. In the business of politics, politicians increasingly use corporate buzzwords. Why, asks Sally Davies. There was a line that stood out in Barack Obama's second inaugural address last month, but not in a carve-it-on-the-Lincoln-memorial sort of way. Before 800,000 onlookers, the freshly anointed US President had just recited the famous passage from the American Declaration of Independence, proclaiming man's unalienable rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
Then, his lips moving mesmerically on the jumbo TV screens that lined Washington's National Mall, he went on: "Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote These truths have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth” End QuoteBarack Obama Full text. Stephen King: why the US must introduce limited gun controls. During my junior and senior years in high school, I wrote my first novel, then titled Getting It On. The story was about a troubled boy named Charlie Decker with a domineering father, a load of adolescent angst and a fixation on Ted Jones, the school's most popular boy. Charlie takes a gun to school, kills his algebra teacher and holds his class hostage.
Ten years later, after the first half-dozen of my books had become bestsellers, I revisited Getting It On, rewrote it, and submitted it to my paperback publisher under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. Language in Conflict - Negation. Heists and mayhem: the language of crime. There has been a lot on British minds recently, with horsemeat and obesity coming high on the list of preoccupations. But amid the furore over such unpalatable subjects, it was a different headline altogether that caught my eye. ‘Diamond heist at Brussels airport nets gang up to £30m in gems’, was the Guardian’s version, while the Daily Telegraph followed up with ‘Mole mastermind sought for perfect Brussels diamond heist’.
For the Daily Mail, it was simply ‘The Belgian Job’. The facts of the story were certainly remarkable, involving eight men who managed to cut a hole in a security fence and burst through it in fake police cars. Although heavily armed with military machine-guns, they managed to seize the diamonds without firing a shot. Don’t be beguiled by Orwell: using plain and clear language is not always a moral virtue. Obama/Clinton Debate. If Obama had been Lincoln: 10 lines from Obama’s Second Inaugural Address that wouldn’t have been used in 1865. Language and power. A user's guide to art-speak. Skivers v strivers: the argument that pollutes people's minds. David Starkey "Whites Have Become Blacks" London Riots.Quotes From Enoch Powell's Rivers Of Blood Speech.
Newnsight debate.docx - DocDroid. Mitt Romney vs. the English Language. The shared language of sport and politics.