Interview on the WBUR show “Here and Now” about “man up” and other political buzzwords.
“Man up” seems to be the political catchphrase of the season. Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Nevada, taunted Democrat Harry Reid to “man up” during a recent debate. Sarah Palin used the phrase to challenge elected officials in her own Republican party to support the Tea Party movement. We talk to Ben Zimmer, the On Language columnist for the New York Times, about how political jargon is resonating this campaign season. We also look at how satirists, like Stephen Colbert who coined the term “truthiness,” sometimes warp language to drive their points home.
(Show page, streaming audio , Windows Media, related Word Routes column, related On Language column)