Part of the legacy of the last year is in language. The way words fit in our mouths, in our conversations. Some changes emerge hardened from the restless rumbling between political wordsmiths and journalists, a “War on Terror” launched, an “Axis of Evil’ established. Other rhetoric flails and dies.
When was the last time you talked about “Operation Enduring Freedom?” But, just as what we now call “9-11″ has altered the way we live our lives, so its particular vocabulary has crystallized and channeled the way we understand those events.
George Orwell once wrote that “what is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around.” Ground Zero, freedom, patriotism and the war over language.
Guests:
Sandra Silberstein, author of “War on Words: Language, Politics and 9/11″
Jay Keyser, MIT professor emeritus of linguistics.