politicalization of vocabulary

you act like these words have fixed meanings (which you know and others don't....how cute!), they don't. They are ideas, ideals, theory....they are schools of thought, movements. They change what they are with time, and not all who claim the labels or debate the relative merits of each agree upon the definitions of each.

See fallacy of equivocation for why it matters in debate.

"Socialism" as the primary economic system has been widely criticized and is rejected by the majority of Western society.

However in debates about social programs it is often tossed around for its rhetorical effect, ignoring that doing so is to move the goalposts and render "socialism" meaningless by equating it to any social program.

These things have real meaning, and quite often in political debate ambiguity of definitions are exploited to make intellectually dishonest points. They are employing the negative sentiment against a socialist state in order to make cheap political points against a particular social program.

yeah, I'm quite an elitist. ( I also own a dictionary)

Abuse of language is common, and for a lot of people winning (or at least looking good) is more important than honesty and personal integrity. I think that I agree with you and Dys on this. However, these are not dead words, their meanings are continually in flux.

One of the worst words your commentators can call anybody or anything seems to be "liberal".

This puzzles us Brits, who think liberal is quite a nice thing to be.

Not everyone in the U.S. thinks liberal is a bad word or even a bad thing to be. The only time it bugs me is when you add politician on the end of it. There arnt any truly liberal politicians in existance.

Wishing you a lot of luck, dys.

I'd add the word "conservative" to the list of words that are thrown around with no real meaning.

T
K
O

Here is a shining example of the politicization of vocabulary:

THE LANGUAGE OF HEALTHCARE 2009

This vocabulary guide was explicitly written for use by Republican politicians. It contains instructions on how to frame the debate over healthcare reform. It also contains handy reference boxes entitled "Words that Work" and "Words that Don't Work."

ditto for Yanks when they hear " Give us a fag luv?

fascinating....I'm indebted.

I suspect much of this to come in the next few weeks. My ears aren't terained for that.

T
K
O

I'm excited for you. I spent two years in England studying and I will never forget the warmth and hospitality of their people.