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 77
Page xvi
... economic royalists fellow immigrants fireside chat forgotten man four freedoms Good Neighbor Policy Happy Warrior iffy question Martin, Barton, and Fish my friends New Deal nothing to fear but fear itself one-third of a nation ...
... economic royalists fellow immigrants fireside chat forgotten man four freedoms Good Neighbor Policy Happy Warrior iffy question Martin, Barton, and Fish my friends New Deal nothing to fear but fear itself one-third of a nation ...
Page 10
... economic condition of the U.S.: rich and booming, with undertones of unrest from those not participating in the affluence. The agent-noun adviser dates back to 1611 for “one who gives counsel or advice.” A modifying term, as in security ...
... economic condition of the U.S.: rich and booming, with undertones of unrest from those not participating in the affluence. The agent-noun adviser dates back to 1611 for “one who gives counsel or advice.” A modifying term, as in security ...
Page 18
... economy and polity. In the twentieth century the phrase lost its protective-tariff meaning and has been used in the sense of a political and The first class I call Americanisms, by which I understand an use of phrases or terms, or a ...
... economy and polity. In the twentieth century the phrase lost its protective-tariff meaning and has been used in the sense of a political and The first class I call Americanisms, by which I understand an use of phrases or terms, or a ...
Page 19
... economic democracy.” be “a hopeless failure.” Clifford's off-theIn a 1929 interview, underworld overlord Al Capone used the phrase in the current sense: “Don't get the idea that I'm one of these goddam radicals. Don't get the idea that ...
... economic democracy.” be “a hopeless failure.” Clifford's off-theIn a 1929 interview, underworld overlord Al Capone used the phrase in the current sense: “Don't get the idea that I'm one of these goddam radicals. Don't get the idea that ...
Page 21
... economic conditions is a decided lack of risk-taking and entrepreneurship. Instead of animal spirits, business and ... ECONOMICS ) picked up this noun phrase and used it three times in his 1936 master- work, The General Theory of ...
... economic conditions is a decided lack of risk-taking and entrepreneurship. Instead of animal spirits, business and ... ECONOMICS ) picked up this noun phrase and used it three times in his 1936 master- work, The General Theory of ...
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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