The A-Word?

I sometimes think that in another life, I could have been a linguist, for I am always fascinated by language and how it evolves, how certain vernaculars, colloquiums, and slang develop within a area that shares a common language.

You ever heard a New Yorker and a back-woods Georgian talk to each other? Oh, it’s a Bach symphony for my ears.

Yet what I find truly interesting about the evolution of language is how words develop certain connotations irrespective of their initial denotation. This manipulation of these connotations can be a very effective tool in political rhetoric, something of which the Conservative Right have been true masters. It is as if ever Republican for the past sixty years really paid attention when the teacher went over the major themes in “1984″ in English class, and so are now putting them to practice. [Read more]