Bob Collins“It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.”
— George Orwell
Is it torture or harsh interrogation tactics? National Public Radio ombudsman Alicia Shepard told MPR Midmorning host Kerri Miller she’ll have a piece on her online column later today because “NPR listeners are furious that we’re not calling a spade a spade.”
So the timing was perfect for today’s Midmorning hour on how our language has been politicized, and how a point of view creeps into the journalism.
At MPR, for example, pro-choice and pro-life and no-no’s. Instead, we use phrases such as legalized abortion. Of more recent vintage is the controversy over the use partial birth abortion. It is a virtually endless debate.
That said, here’s a list of the words or phrases that came up in this morning’s broadcast, either from the guests — Shepard and Karlyn Kohrs Campbell from the University of Minnesota — or callers. Add your own below.
Public plan vs. government plan
Death tax
Public option vs. government takeover
Waterboarding
Disabled person vs. Person with disabilities
Enhanced interrogation technique
Fee vs. tax
Break news
Latino
Collateral damage
Regime vs. government
