Tracking the language that’s used at any one period of time is an excellent way of understanding the mind-set of that time. This is one of the reasons that the ‘Word of the Year’ tradition has become so popular – it offers a succinct way of reflecting back on the defining trends and concerns of […]
Tag: politics
Why ‘fake news’ is such a problematic term – and what we can do about it
There’s been a growing call for people to stop using the term ‘fake news’ and replace it with something more suitable. While the rationale for this makes perfect sense, in practical terms things aren’t quite so simple. So what can we do to prevent the term itself doing as much damage as the phenomenon it […]
Political fashion statements, or Re-evaluating the postmodern critique on language in the era of Trump
I started reading Michiko Kakutani’s The Death of Truth while I was still reading Laurent Binet’s The 7th Function of Language. The first of these is an elegant critique of Trump’s assault on truth, which tracks the development of a sort of nihilistic epistemology through the literature of the past seventy odd years. The second […]
Political blowjobs, or The power of expletive-filled personalised number plates
Blowjobs have played an occasional but important part in political history. The most notable recent example, of course, involved Bill Clinton. It was his equivocation over the nature of his relations with Monica Lewinsky that led to him being impeached on perjury charges. A century before Clinton, another president had an even more decisive oral […]
The stubborn persistence of ‘fake news’, or Why we’re stuck with the term for the time being
One of the notable recommendations from parliament’s investigation into ‘fake news’ was that the term itself should be retired. ‘“Fake news” is bandied around with no clear idea of what it means, or agreed definition’, they write, and so is no longer fit for purpose. Of course, it’s not the only word currently dominating political […]
Storytelling in politics and news reporting [video]
As the Trump chronicles and the Brexit saga both stumble inexorably on, how does news reporting shape events into stories? And is there a relationship between the use of narrative as reporting technique and the ‘fake news’ phenomenon? As part of a series of interviews I did for our new module on Language Studies, here […]
The meaninglessness of meaning, or Brexit as a metaphor
Yesterday afternoon during Prime Minister’s Questions, Theresa May was asked by one of her own MPs if she could ‘inform the House at what time it was decided that Brexit means Remain?’ The question capped a week of chaotic wrangling within the government about how this single, seemingly straight-forward word should be defined, and who […]
Unparliamentary language, or The benefits of swearing in politics
If Theresa May were to stand up at the dispatch box and, in a fit of rage, call Jeremy Corbyn a ****ing ****, we can assume that by the end of the day her political career would be in a certain amount of jeopardy. For one thing, parliament has very strict rules about etiquette. As […]
