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 x
... Metaphor? The most gripping of the phrases in this dictionary paint word pictures to conjure startling images ... metaphors of disaster: landslides, prairie fires, firestorms, tsunamis, and avalanches are the goals of whirlwind campaigns ...
... Metaphor? The most gripping of the phrases in this dictionary paint word pictures to conjure startling images ... metaphors of disaster: landslides, prairie fires, firestorms, tsunamis, and avalanches are the goals of whirlwind campaigns ...
Page xi
... metaphors of all. Doves and hawks fly in its aviary along with emblematic bald eagles, as lame ducks eat crow on the ... metaphor can reveal sensitivity and genius, inspire and uplift a people, and crystallize a mood that gives purpose ...
... metaphors of all. Doves and hawks fly in its aviary along with emblematic bald eagles, as lame ducks eat crow on the ... metaphor can reveal sensitivity and genius, inspire and uplift a people, and crystallize a mood that gives purpose ...
Page xii
... metaphor by FDR before World War II. In the same way, McKinley used the revered manifest destiny to justify his acquisition of Hawaii, destiny expanding westward that was hardly manifest a half-century earlier, when that phrase was ...
... metaphor by FDR before World War II. In the same way, McKinley used the revered manifest destiny to justify his acquisition of Hawaii, destiny expanding westward that was hardly manifest a half-century earlier, when that phrase was ...
Page xxiii
... metaphors, I came across the derivation of Lincoln's “the mystic chords of memory,” which illustrates the way a ... metaphor as well. But the president rewrote the suggested passage, lifting it from oratory to poetry. He began his ...
... metaphors, I came across the derivation of Lincoln's “the mystic chords of memory,” which illustrates the way a ... metaphor as well. But the president rewrote the suggested passage, lifting it from oratory to poetry. He began his ...
Page 24
... metaphor: “The man-in-the-arena arena”; William Jennings Bryan, destined to tactic, pioneered by G.O.P. consultant Roger be a three-time loser, repeated those words Ailes for Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign, sixty years later. Supreme ...
... metaphor: “The man-in-the-arena arena”; William Jennings Bryan, destined to tactic, pioneered by G.O.P. consultant Roger be a three-time loser, repeated those words Ailes for Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign, sixty years later. Supreme ...
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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