Safire's Political DictionaryWhen it comes to the vagaries of language in American politics, its uses and abuses, its absurdities and ever-shifting nuances, its power to confound, obscure, and occasionally to inspire, William Safire is the language maven we most readily turn to for clarity, guidance, and penetrating, sometimes lacerating, wit. Safire's Political Dictionary is a stem-to-stern updating and expansion of the Language of Politics, which was first published in 1968 and last revised in 1993, long before such terms as Hanging Chads, 9/11 and the War on Terror became part of our everyday vocabulary. Nearly every entry in that renowned work has been revised and updated and scores of completely new entries have been added to produce an indispensable guide to the political language being used and abused in America today. Safire's definitions--discursive, historically aware, and often anecdotal--bring a savvy perspective to our colorful political lingo. Indeed, a Safire definition often reads like a mini-essay in political history, and readers will come away not only with a fuller understanding of particular words but also a richer knowledge of how politics works, and fails to work, in America. From Axis of Evil, Blame Game, Bridge to Nowhere, Triangulation, and Compassionate Conservatism to Islamofascism, Netroots, Earmark, Wingnuts and Moonbats, Slam Dunk, Doughnut Hole, and many others, this language maven explains the origin of each term, how and by whom and for what purposes it has been used or twisted, as well as its perceived and real significance. For anyone who wants to cut through the verbal haze that surrounds so much of American political discourse, Safire's Political Dictionary offers a work of scholarship, wit, insiderhood and resolute bipartisanship. |
From inside the book
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Page xxii
... , which I incorporate by this fervent reference, with special thanks to the lexicographer Sol Steinmetz, who vetted and abetted my fourth edition in 1993; to its publisher, Prolegomenon xxiii Robert Loomis of Random House, and to Jeffrey.
... , which I incorporate by this fervent reference, with special thanks to the lexicographer Sol Steinmetz, who vetted and abetted my fourth edition in 1993; to its publisher, Prolegomenon xxiii Robert Loomis of Random House, and to Jeffrey.
Page 10
... Robert H. Bork was defeated in the Senate (see the eponymous verb, to BORK ). The elder George Bush's nominee, Judge Clarence Thomas, was confirmed but only after nationally televised hearings into charges of sexual harassment made ...
... Robert H. Bork was defeated in the Senate (see the eponymous verb, to BORK ). The elder George Bush's nominee, Judge Clarence Thomas, was confirmed but only after nationally televised hearings into charges of sexual harassment made ...
Page 11
... Robert R. McCormick, the longtime arch-foe of FDR, recalled it in 1948 while lambasting somebody else: “The Great I Am, old Again and Again and Again himself, couldn't possibly have done a better job of bunking the American people ...
... Robert R. McCormick, the longtime arch-foe of FDR, recalled it in 1948 while lambasting somebody else: “The Great I Am, old Again and Again and Again himself, couldn't possibly have done a better job of bunking the American people ...
Page 54
... Robert Taft's blast at “the wreckage that is our Far Eastern policy.” Thomas E. Dewey, whose own internationalist position ensured bipartisanship in foreign affairs in the 1944 wartime campaign, reasserted the Bipartisanship in foreign ...
... Robert Taft's blast at “the wreckage that is our Far Eastern policy.” Thomas E. Dewey, whose own internationalist position ensured bipartisanship in foreign affairs in the 1944 wartime campaign, reasserted the Bipartisanship in foreign ...
Page 63
... Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) in 2007 accused the Bush admin- istration of using the technique: “This White House constantly waves the bloody shirt of 9/11, using the shadow of that terrible day to scare the American people into quiet ...
... Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) in 2007 accused the Bush admin- istration of using the technique: “This White House constantly waves the bloody shirt of 9/11, using the shadow of that terrible day to scare the American people into quiet ...
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Common terms and phrases
action Administration aide American appeared applied asked attack became become began bill Bush called campaign candidate century charge City civil columnist Communist Congress conservative convention criticism deal defense Democratic described early economic Eisenhower election expression forces foreign former George give Governor head House idea included interest issue John Johnson Kennedy known later leader liberal major meaning ment metaphor military never Nixon nomination noted original party peace person phrase play political politicians popular position Post President presidential referred reported Republican Robert Roosevelt rule Secretary Senator sense speech talk term thing tion told took turn United usage usually Vice vote voters Washington White House word writer wrote York