Somewhere on the Right is an anonymous genius at creating memes. Sarah Palin floats a suspicious number of them: Death Panels, Ground Zero Mosque, 9/11 Mosque, Terror Babies. Her tweets are minefields of coded words; for her, "patriot" is defined as, "those who agree with me." When she says "Americans," it is not inclusive. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times, Aug 2010.
Blair: The difference between David Cameron and Tony Blair is that Blair was better at disguising his intentions. He would never have announced, for example, the sale of public forests. Instead he might have promised "a world-class forest estate" in which "walker-led beacon-foundation woodlands" would be managed through "partnerships with a plurality of recreational providers". Ten years later we would discover that our forests had mysteriously fallen into the hands of timber companies, and were being felled in the name of customer choice. George Monbiot G May 17, 2011
British Bill of Rights: for MPs this is code for riding a white horse to Brussels and on to Strasbourg, bayonet in hand, to declare war on the entire European human rights edifice. Anne Treneman, Times, February 16, 2011
Building Stable Communities: Porter left the country, and is still essentially a fugitive from justice, yet her approach [moving council tenants to outer boroughs] would be extremely influential on later Conservative and New Labour policy, where wholesale transfers of council tenants from inner to outer boroughs would accompany the selling off of council housing. Porter called her gerrymandering Building Stable Communities; Labour called it Building Sustainable Communities. @owenhatherley
calm (as in “has appealed for calm”) = not hitting people
cooperate: “I mean obey my commands! That’s what cooperate means when you’re Prime Minister!” (Yes, Prime Minister)
downward adjustment in living standards: fall @goodcopybadcopy
human rights: to a Daily Mail reader, means “treating prisoners and criminals too leniently”
marginalise: A lot of these guys were marginalised – ie imprisoned – as “incorrect philosophers” in the Soviet era, but now they have been rehabilitated. Tim Dowling on the Russian Cosmists, April 11, 2011
occupy: Language used by BBC hilarious. #Gaddafi "occupies" territory, rebels "liberate" it. Gaddafi kills "civilians" (who wear uniform) #Libya @politicsworld
people: Remember Ian Paisley's refrain “the people of Northern Ireland”? Meaning Protestant people of a particular party . @hughpearman
reprofiling: They decided instead on a “reprofiling” of Greek debt – a euphemism for rescheduling payments that many take to mean a debt restructuring. The Week
restraint = please don’t fire on your own citizens
robust = sexist
stability = no wars or revolutions
strident views = unacceptable/controversial/batty/crazily right-wing views (no longer code for feminist)
"... we live in a media environment which is one of the worst in the democratic world. The media observe policy differences and call it a split; they observe policy discussions and call it a row; they observe compromises and call it a betrayal; they observe trade-offs and call it broken promises; they observe a refusal to agree with consultation responses and call it ideological stubbornness; they observe changes as a result of consultation and call it a U-turn; and if they do not see any of these things they invent them." Lord Greaves, Jan 20 2011
other cultures right-wingers such as the CSU’s Horst Seehofer want to stop all immigration from “other cultures” – code for Turks and Arabs
modernisation of NHS Privatisation of NHS. @sezohanim
polemical left wing polemic
outspoken and controversal liberal and inclusive (Daily Telegraph obit of Rev Colin Slee, Nov 2010)
a multipolar world (Jacques Chirac, 2003) He means a world not dominated by America as the sole superpower. “To further Paris's goal of a 'multipolar world,' which is really a euphemism for constraining U.S. power.” (nationalreview.com)
ardour rabid prejudice, aggression, fury etc.
a true patriot very,
very, very right-wing
a very difficult decision somebody gets
hurt (and probably sacked)
bitterly contested election violence, several people killed, election probably rigged
broken society juvenile delinquents
classifiedsecret
citizen law-abiding taxpayer “We must teach citizenship in schools.”
combination, labour organiser trade unions
correctional facility prison
demagogue rabble rouser Merriam-Webster: “A leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false promises in order to gain power.”
democracy a society with the right people in control
developing countries countries developing industrial economies and global markets, getting richer
0
0
0elites in the former Soviet Union, ruling elites
firebrand angry lefty, right-wing ranter (see demagogue), socialist agitator in distant, poor, rural country
flexible labour laws no unions, no protection, no equal pay act ect ect
hard line Force to be reckoned with, dictatorial. Used to mean hard-line communist. See ideology.
hard-working families the deserving poor (implies some are undeserving)
heavyweight see strongman
highly organised/vocal minority group of people too small to worry about/have any effect which has been manipulated by agents of Satan/communism
kick-start/initiative/role models Monkey see, monkey do. Build it and they will come. New Labour philosophy that if you set something going people will follow the example and carry on. Eg if you open a large art gallery somewhere, cafes and more galleries will grow up round it. And if you mix populations of workers and the unemployed, the unemployed will copy the workers and go out and get jobs. Kick start implies that all you have to do is kick the machine and then it’ll run by itself. (See access, empower, enable, involve, facilitator, animateur etc ad nauseam)
kingpin see strongman
liberal (in France) free market
manifest destiny
make conditions issue threats and offer bribes
militant militantly left-wing (80s)
militants, rebels men with guns not on the winning side
militia unofficial army/troop
muscular foreign policy repressive foreign policy
overlord unelected leader
outspoken right-wing
ranter
partnership private investment, PFI, third way, unholy alliance, getting someone other than the government to pay for houses, railways etc. We let you build moneymaking eyesores as long as you also build a few cottages for the peasantry. Is this “planning benefit”? We have partnered with companies X and Y = they have given us money.
populist appealing to the worst instincts of the underclass
project "any do-gooder
initiative" (Web)
reducing the state cutting benefits
reform destroy, demolish, diminish (reform social services)
regime government you don't approve of
reform of the welfare state reduction of the welfare state
respect and citizenship working class people doff their caps and call the officer class sir
right to choose She would vote for Al Gore because: "I like his environment policies". But, she added, "also I want to defend the right to choose." This phrase is a codeword for abortion rights, and many women feel strongly on the issue. (bbc)
rigid/flexible labour laws/market in a rigid labour market, employees have rights, pensions, a minimum wage, job security, contracts, agreements, quotas, minimum working hours etc
ringleader leader Political movements have leaders, groups of protesters have ringleaders.
sanctions bribes and threats
settle grab land
speak out give liberal viewpoint (Jordan's Queen Speaks Out - jewpi.com, Pope to Speak Out on Abuse)
strong medicine dictatorship (see heavyweight, strongman etc.)
strongman unelected leader, or one who takes on too much power even if democratically elected, or came to power through corruption or force (see hard man)
surveillancespying
take tough decisions cut budgets, build eyesores, make people redundant
tensions inter-group hatred and potential violence
tension/tumult/turmoil all mean trouble (and troubled is a euphemism for mad, criminal, drunk etc)
turbulent likely to turn violent
tumult unrest, disturbance, uncertaintyJane Norman has collapsed into administration as another 1,600 jobs are put at risk by the high street tumult. Times June 27, 2011 (tumult actually means crowds milling about)
well-intentioned but naïve socialist (To Where our Well-Intentioned but Naïve Legislative Creep is Leading Us headline from Civitas website)
used for political ends the wrong political ends
visionary dreamer, spinner of impractically “utopian” ideas
volatile likely to turn violent
