Political Jargon, Slang and Phrases (5 Viewers)

Today's word can be used with most any field of endeavor, but it's often associated with politics and such people are known as "policy wonks."

Example: "The candidate has an army of policy wonks ready to write for him a position paper on virtually any issue."

wonk
noun

\ ˈwäŋk , ˈwȯŋk \
Definition of wonk

: a person preoccupied with arcane details or procedures in a specialized field broadly : NERD

Synonyms
bookworm, dink [slang], dork [slang], geek, grind, nerd, swot [British], weenie


One of my old favorite websites (NSFW Language):

The U.S. Government has its very own website for political terms, with its very own definitions. These definitions often vary greatly from the standard dictionary definitions. Since these are the "official" definitions that apply to terms used in federal documents, it's important to cross-check occasionally and make sure words mean what we think they mean.


Voter Intimidation (Voter Suppression)

Example: The state police positioned armed officers at the doorway to each polling station for "security reasons," but actually it was nothing but old fashioned voter intimidation.

An attempt to prevent eligible people from voting or forcing them to vote a certain way. The attempt may be made by an official, individual, or group. Some voter intimidation tactics include:

• Using verbal or physical threats
• Threatening with weapons or jail time
• Tests involving literacy, property ownership, or citizenship
• Poll taxes
• Other types of intimidation to prevent an eligible person from voting freely

Closing polling places
Making absurdly long ballots designed to increase voting times
Not putting into play what the voters actually voted to do/change
Gerrymandering is obviously a form of voter suppression
Creating onerous bureaucratic id procedures
Social media propaganda designed to create a ‘both sides’ narrative
And on
And on

GMRfellowtraveller said:

Closing polling places
Making absurdly long ballots designed to increase voting times
Not putting into play what the voters actually voted to do/change
Gerrymandering is obviously a form of voter suppression
Creating onerous bureaucratic id procedures
Social media propaganda designed to create a ‘both sides’ narrative
And on
And on

Click to expand...

Expanding on that last official item, Other types of intimidation to prevent an eligible person from voting freely ,

Not to derail what has been a solid thread to this point, but here in Oregon, voting is 100% mail. You complete your voter at the dmv when you get you re-uplicense or move (this is through the mail). The ballots are mailed far enough in advance- about a month- that anyone who didn’t get theirs can. Window is a week to mail it in.

This is a great system. I would propose it for all states.

edit- the former polling places are now ballot drop offs, open during the whole week window

Today's word/expression is used to describe political situations in which laws are enacted with the best of intentions only to have negative results that were not foreseen.

Example: A Louisiana colloquial expression of unintended consequences: "When you're up to your hips in alligators, it is difficult to recall that the original intent was to drain the swamp."

unintended consequences
noun

Actions of people—and especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.

What are unintended consequences? definition and meaning

Definition of unintended consequences: A term used to describe a set of results that was not intended as an outcome. Though unintended consequences may be anticipated or unanticipated, they should be the product of specific actions within ...

www.businessdictionary.com

In literature, The Monkey's Paw is a short story cautionary tale/horror story about unintended consequences.

Today, we take a look at something so basic that we automatically assume everybody gets it. In today's political climate though, separation of powers is sometimes confused with political party affiliations and political agendas.

Example: He believed in separation of powers, which is why he joined the protest when the central government seemed to gain a lot of control over the country.

Separation of powers
noun

Separation of powers is a doctrine of constitutional law under which the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) are kept separate. This is also known as the system of checks and balances, because each branch is given certain powers so as to check and balance the other branches.

Each branch has separate powers, and generally each branch is not allowed to exercise the powers of the other branches.
The Legislative Branch exercises congressional power, the Executive Branch exercises executive power, and the Judicial Branch exercises judicial review.

Today's word/expression comes to us from social media.

Example: "Joe presented himself as a concerned citizen, but he was actually an Internet shill for the Progressive Campaign to Re-elect Senator Blowhard."

Internet shill
noun

An Internet shill is someone who promotes something or someone online for pay without divulging that they are associated with the entity they shill for.

A shill might create a Facebook or Twitter account, set up a blog or simply comment through these and other channels, such as discussion forums. The purpose is to artificially improve the social perception of the entity shilled for. Shills promote companies, products, public figures and viewpoints for profit, while pretending to have no motivation for doing so other than personal belief.

It can be difficult to detect when inflated metrics are the result of cyber shilling. Often, the people doing the actual work are not hired directly by the people they shill for. Someone seeking an enhanced reputation might contract with a domestic firm that performs some less questionable service, such as social media consulting. The consulting firm, in turn, might contract with a cyber shill company based somewhere with very low labor costs. At those premises, low-paid workers perform the actual work.

More complex Internet shill jobs, such as spreading disinformation, are more demanding and may be well-paid. Such jobs may be telecommute positions or conducted from temporary offices which are frequently moved to avoid detection.

Shill derives from shillaber, a word used in the early 20th century for the accomplice of a carnival worker employed to excite interest in the games and sideshows while pretending to be a member of the general audience.

Also see "sock puppet," "sock puppet marketing"

What is Internet shill? - Definition from WhatIs.com

An Internet shill is someone who promotes something or someone online for pay without divulging that they are associated with the entity they shill for. A shill might create a Facebook or Twitter account, set up a blog or simply comment through these and other channels, such as discussion forums.

whatis.techtarget.com

Dadsdream said:

Today's word/expression comes to us from social media.

Example: "Joe presented himself as a concerned citizen, but he was actually an Internet shill for the Progressive Campaign to Re-elect Senator Blowhard."

Internet shill
noun

An Internet shill is someone who promotes something or someone online for pay without divulging that they are associated with the entity they shill for.

A shill might create a Facebook or Twitter account, set up a blog or simply comment through these and other channels, such as discussion forums. The purpose is to artificially improve the social perception of the entity shilled for. Shills promote companies, products, public figures and viewpoints for profit, while pretending to have no motivation for doing so other than personal belief.

It can be difficult to detect when inflated metrics are the result of cyber shilling. Often, the people doing the actual work are not hired directly by the people they shill for. Someone seeking an enhanced reputation might contract with a domestic firm that performs some less questionable service, such as social media consulting. The consulting firm, in turn, might contract with a cyber shill company based somewhere with very low labor costs. At those premises, low-paid workers perform the actual work.

More complex Internet shill jobs, such as spreading disinformation, are more demanding and may be well-paid. Such jobs may be telecommute positions or conducted from temporary offices which are frequently moved to avoid detection.

Shill derives from shillaber, a word used in the early 20th century for the accomplice of a carnival worker employed to excite interest in the games and sideshows while pretending to be a member of the general audience.

Also see "sock puppet," "sock puppet marketing"

What is Internet shill? - Definition from WhatIs.com

An Internet shill is someone who promotes something or someone online for pay without divulging that they are associated with the entity they shill for. A shill might create a Facebook or Twitter account, set up a blog or simply comment through these and other channels, such as discussion forums.

whatis.techtarget.com

Click to expand...

Is there somewhere you can apply to be an internet shill?

After the Roger Dtone thread I was certain today’s word was going to be ‘inartful dodger’

samiam5211 said:

Is there somewhere you can apply to be an internet shill?

Click to expand...

Media consulting firms. We used to have had a guy on the EE Board who worked for one in the DC area.
His job was to monitor web traffic on behalf of his companies' clients and assign people to "help" their clients increase their numbers.
Election years were his big money ticket times.

By special request, today's word/phrase comes from the world of literature.

Example: The old general had great difficulty expressing himself with written English, so he hired a ghost writer to help with his memoirs.

ghost writer
noun

Ghost writers are writers for hire who take money but none of the credit for the work produced. The original writer, or author, is hiring the ghost as a freelance writer to produce copy writer work for a fee. The author takes all the credit for all the original work produced, including all the original writing produced by the ghost writer. The ghost, who is usually paid in advance of completing the job, gets the money as a “work for hire” job and assumes none of the credit for the ghost writing work.


Good article:

Today's word comes from the title of a 1938 British stage play, Gas Light, which was subsequently produced as a film, Gaslight, in the United Kingdom (1940) and the United States (1944).

More recently, this term has been used to describe the effect of deceptive politicians and their operatives on the public. This is a broadening of the original meaning and application of the term.

gaslighting
verb

Example: Leading up to the divorce, Julie began gaslighting Tom by hiding the car keys and accusing him of losing them.

Gaslighting, an elaborate and insidious technique of deception and psychological manipulation, usually practiced by a single deceiver, or “gaslighter,” on a single victim over an extended period. Its effect is to gradually undermine the victim’s confidence in his own ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, right from wrong, or reality from appearance, thereby rendering him pathologically dependent on the gaslighter in his thinking or feelings.

gaslighting | Definition, Origins, & Facts

Gaslighting, technique of deception and psychological manipulation intended to make the victim dependent on the deceiver in thoughts or feelings.

www.britannica.com

Some of you may recall Senator William Proxmire's annual "Golden Fleece Award" a tongue-in-cheek recognition, presented to the biggest federal boondoggles from 1975-1987.


boondoggle
noun

A wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft. A boondoggle is also the slide that Boy Scouts use on their neckerchiefs.


From today's headlines, here's a boondoggle in honor of Senator Proxmire:

$5 Million in Paid Time Off for One Person?

How would you like to be paid $750K per year and accrue $5 million in paid time off?


Enter Tiffany Carr, head of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence for two decades.
The coalition holds a sole source contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Ms. Carr had 50 paid days off per year since 2010, in addition to other perks such as a car allowance and time at "an executive retreat at the place of her choosing." Following an investigation by the Miami Herald, Florida's lawmakers were outraged at such extravagant spending in a state agency.

The Florida House voted to subpoena 14 executives and board members of the coalition and ask for the board’s resignation. Gov. Ron DeSantis launched an investigation to determine if the organization was guilty of crimes. And a Senate committee gave swift approval to a bill to sever the coalition’s unique status as the sole-source contract for the Department of Children and Families for domestic violence funds.

“After many months of obstruction by the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the governor’s office received deeply disturbing information regarding the organization’s practices over the past several years,’’ Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said in a statement. “These practices include exorbitant compensation payouts, abuse of state dollars, withholding of information, and breach of public trust.”


After an audit, Ms. Carr stepped down, citing a “significant health diagnosis.”

Today's word comes from the environmental movement. Early on, it was an issue raised frequently with giant companies such as Dow Chemical and Monsanto, but has expanded in recent years. Greenwashing matches up with the old idiom "making a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

Politicians sometimes struggle to paint themselves and their campaigns as pro-environmental, while continuing to accept contributions from companies that are not.

Example: The president's use of the term "clean coal" was generally considered greenwashing and an oxymoron.

Greenwashing
noun

When companies attempt to make themselves look environmentally friendly (usually when they're not especially environmentally friendly); spending more money and time claiming to be "green" through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that lessen environmental impact.

Examples of Political Jargon

Political jargon allows people to talk about political issues in a quicker, coded way.

examples.yourdictionary.com

Also see: green sheen

With the fragmentation of political viewpoints, various segments of the political world have built their very own jargon.
Today we visit with the good folks at Daily KOS for a uniquely left of left perspective on slang and jargon.

Example: Once he announced his candidacy, Bloomberg's opponents quickly resurrected his gotcha statements about stop and frisk demographics.

gotcha
verb/adjective

Used in various ways, it describes politics and/or journalism that thrives on catching the opponent in an error. Gotcha politics, gotcha questions, gotcha games... all attempt to trick or trap the other side, painting them as inept or dishonest. The classic gotcha question is When did you stop beating your wife?

The Mad Logophile: Political Slang

Daily Kos is a progressive news site that fights for democracy by giving our audience information and resources to win elections and impact government. Our coverage is assiduously factual, ethical, and unapologetically liberal. We amplify what we think is important, with the proper context—not...

www.dailykos.com

Bloomberg Misleads on Stop-And-Frisk

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg misleadingly stated that he “cut” the police practice of stop-and-frisk -- a policy that he “inherited” -- by “95%” by the time he left office as mayor of New York. There were nearly twice as many stops in his last year as mayor compared with the...

www.factcheck.org

Today's word is a slang term derived from food.

Example: Assigned to cover the Johnson campaign for The Times, reporter Tom Smith quickly tired of the rubber chicken circuit.

rubber chicken circuit
noun

The endless series of public dinners and luncheons politicians must attend to raise funds and make speeches. The food often includes chicken, which is cooked hours earlier and then reheated, giving it a rubbery texture.

Vocabulary: Political Words | Scholastic

If you can't tell a lame duck from a rubber chicken, here's a guide to help you understand the language of politics.

www.scholastic.com

Today's word is an example of an old concept that has taken on a new twist in modern usage. Originally meant to describe pirate ships flying friendly colors to deceive, it's become a by-word among Internet conspiracy theorists.

Example: Within 30 minutes after the mass shooting, trolls began dismissing it as a false flag operation, cooked up by the illuminati.



false flag
noun

A false flag is intentional misrepresentation, especially a covert political or military operation carried out to appear as if it was undertaken by another party.

Why some on the far right believe Democrats sent themselves bombs in the mail

"False flags," explained.

www.vox.com