Just A Word?

President Obama was widely quoted after his "just words" comments. He was saying that some comments were a great deal more than just words.

I agree - but recently I hear comments - words, that is - that have a darker meaning than immediately apparent. If a pattern of behavior acquires a name - and if that behavior becomes unpopular - don't change the behavior, just change the name used for that behavior.

Or, if you want some behavior to seem better than it is perceived to be, you might just nuance the name commonly associated with that behavior.

The current mania for "political correctness" brings many examples to mind. "Disabled" replaced "crippled". Okay by me if "crippled" was hurtful to some.

But, I am not necessarily okay with discarding a name that has become distasteful by preempting a fully tasteful word as the new name. I have never liked the idea of calling homosexual men "gay".

Homosexual women are called a name derived from a Greek island - for some historical reason, perhaps - but the women didn't go out and steal the name from some more widely accepted behavior. I am not bashing homosexual men, and I have no problem with their wanting to be called something different. But why choose a word long associated with happy children at play?

Okay, none of those example are a burr under my saddle. Two that are is the practice of calling liberals progressives. Progressive sounds like someone supporting "progress". Not everyone realizes that Progressive delineated a much more sinister ideology a century ago. The second is the practice of calling Democrat politicians Democratic. The Democrat Party is an ideology that has been hijacked. So, calling a Democrat senator, a Democratic Senator, sounds better!

I'd like to think that all senators are democratic. Which is exactly why Democrats want us to give the term democratic a capital "D"! Even some competent journalists are now doing it.