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
Results 1-5 of 87
Page 5
... became well-known words, as did radar and sonar. Troops of the Republic of Korea soon were known Yet this one looks less soluble in an era of realignments.” Ultimately, the AFL and CIO reached their “accommodation,” though other union ...
... became well-known words, as did radar and sonar. Troops of the Republic of Korea soon were known Yet this one looks less soluble in an era of realignments.” Ultimately, the AFL and CIO reached their “accommodation,” though other union ...
Page 6
... became Presidential Study Memoranda. However, after one day of “PISIMs,” embarrassed officials changed the name further to “Presidential Review Memoranda,” and became known through- out the Carter Administration by the more prim ...
... became Presidential Study Memoranda. However, after one day of “PISIMs,” embarrassed officials changed the name further to “Presidential Review Memoranda,” and became known through- out the Carter Administration by the more prim ...
Page 14
... became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews.” On that principle he ordered the circumcision of Timothy, to recommend that follower of Christ's ministry to the Jews, despite Christianity's substitution of baptism for circumcision as a ...
... became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews.” On that principle he ordered the circumcision of Timothy, to recommend that follower of Christ's ministry to the Jews, despite Christianity's substitution of baptism for circumcision as a ...
Page 20
... became such a trigger for opposition in 2007 was the passage of a 1986 law during the Reagan Administration establishing a one-year amnesty for illegal immigrants who had been in the U.S. for longer than four years; it did nothing to ...
... became such a trigger for opposition in 2007 was the passage of a 1986 law during the Reagan Administration establishing a one-year amnesty for illegal immigrants who had been in the U.S. for longer than four years; it did nothing to ...
Page 30
... became a triangle. But the Axis An election in which the popular-vote dif- ferential is not large, but the electoral-vote difference is considerable, is a landslide without an avalanche. Powers were the opponents of the Allied Powers ...
... became a triangle. But the Axis An election in which the popular-vote dif- ferential is not large, but the electoral-vote difference is considerable, is a landslide without an avalanche. Powers were the opponents of the Allied Powers ...
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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