Arrest that misuse

Etymological criminals

By the time you read this, we should know who our next president is (please, please, please don't drag this out). Much has been lost in the course of the campaign--logic, courtesy, common sense, decorum, among other things--but for even the most laid-back word nerds like me, one loss hits harder.

That would be the loss of meaning.

Words have been used in this campaign in ways that don't fit their real definitions. For example, criminal--as a noun, it means someone who has been found guilty of a crime. To avoid the possibility of libel suits, responsible journalists don't call anyone a criminal who hasn't been convicted of a crime--the First Amendment, like all the amendments, has limits, and libel (or spoken slander) is one of the checks on freedom of expression/press; knowingly calling someone something they're not is just asking for a lawsuit.

A responsible person would never call someone who hasn't been convicted, much less charged, a criminal. But politics now ... messy, paranoid, loud and reactionary ... eh, it's not exactly responsible.

Don't like someone? Criminal! Obviously that person has committed all sorts of criminal activity from murder to drug-running to treason, and probably also kicks puppies and kittens. Evidence, charges and a court verdict are not needed as long as that person is unlikable or is a threat to your aims.

Similarly, an honest person is someone who doesn't lie or cheat ... at least according to most sources. In politics, though, someone "telling it like it is" is apparently the definition of an honest person. Of course, "telling it like it is" now means telling people what they want to hear regardless of actual truth since the truth involves facts. And facts are, well ... inconvenient. What was once a demagogue--one whose fiery rhetoric, often full of lies, appeals to greed, fear and hatred--is now a truth-teller.

I so want to throw a dictionary at these people.

Words have undergone semantic change before--broadening or narrowing of applicable context, elevation or deterioration of meaning, or a complete shift--but that generally happens over time. It took a long while for "gay" to mean homosexual rather than lighthearted, and for "terrific" to mean splendid rather than causing terror.

I place my hope in the fact that a couple of years is not generally long enough for the definitions of words like "criminal" and "honest" to broaden permanently to the point of meaninglessness as they seem to have done in the current atmosphere. In the past and now, people with ulterior motives have worked consciously to change meanings, often for political purposes.

As Roy Peter Clark wrote on Poynter.org in 2009: "Words are often weapons in culture wars wielded by ideologues to gain the high ground in argument, debate, policy and propaganda. In the post-Reagan era, conservative politicians worked to redefine the word 'liberal' so that it moved from a neutral to a negative meaning. So the warring sides in the abortion debate see words like 'choice' or 'life' as positive or negative, depending upon their positions. Or, as has often been noted in describing the violent politics of the Middle East: 'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.'"

And what some see as staying true to the meaning of words (and trying not to get sued), others see as political correctness. Since I loathe political correctness, you should be able to guess my intent. While I'm far from a strict grammarian, continued blatant, intentional misuse of words concerns me, and makes it difficult for people to be understood.

Yes, words, like political parties, evolve and sometimes end up diametrically opposed from where they started, or at the very least in a different neighborhood.

"Demagogue" once meant a popular leader before it underwent deterioration, thanks especially to people like Joe McCarthy. "Enormity" is a favorite of politicians of all stripes, and a word that, when used to mean large, makes grammar grouches even grouchier (yep, it's indeed possible). However, the word nerds among us understand that while enormity historically means great wickedness (apropos for politics), contemporary (mis)usage has broadened the definition to include the state of being huge (or yuuge, in Election 2016-speak).

We can't stop the natural evolution of words, but we can at least try to be more careful in how we use them ... at least if we want people to understand us. Of course, politicians don't really want that, soooo ...

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Assistant Editor Brenda Looper is editor of the Voices page. Read her blog at blooper0223.wordpress.com. Email her at blooper@arkansasonline.com.

Editorial on 11/09/2016

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