Word Brawling

Want to see hundreds of expensively dressed men and women trading verbal punches? Look at any election for the United States Congress. Political slugfests also happen in Britain, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere. But the stunning thing about America’s particular free-for-all is how the disappearance of one small phrase can suddenly send incumbents scrambling to rewrite their battle plans. Only a few weeks before one election began unrolling, the president did the unthinkable to his fellow party politicians. He jettisoned a two-year old catchphrase that had united them in promoting an increasingly unpopular overseas war. Instantly and completely the sound bite, “Stay the Course”, disappeared from his speeches and statements. The president’s companion attack mantra “Cut and Run” disappeared as well. “Stay the Course” evoked the image of an unswerving ship’s captain. “Cut and Run” suggested a battlefield coward. “Stay the Course” first appeared in print in the mid 1880’s, and applied to a race horse’s ability to cross the finish line as a winner. By the end of World War I, politicians had reined it to their own purposes. “Cut and Run” was actually the nautical term and long an established military tactic used by sailing ships under sudden attack. It goes back over 200 years. To free a vessel for quick escape the anchor cable would be slashed, allowing it to fall into the sea as sails were raised. There is nothing like a war to generate political slogans. Recent hostilities have inspired presidential “We’ll Stand Down When They Stand Up”, and “Mission Accomplished”. The latter appeared as signage behind the president on the deck of an aircraft carrier. And “Protecting America” was posted at the signing table of the much-distrusted Military Commissions Act of 2006. But for raw power and simplicity, no one beats the ancient Roman, Cato. The senator became famous for closing all his speeches with the imperative, “Carthage Must Be Destroyed!” Rome eventually attacked. Election watchwords range from sweet to sarcastic, from personal praise to attacks and counter attacks. Sometimes they even take sides on an issue. Often developed by a campaign team of three to four people, they can be stabs in the dark, seeking to hit an emotion, evoke an impression, or trigger a voter’s mood such as optimism, anxiety , anger or apprehension. Many times, because they have the impossible task of being distinct and memorable while remaining vague, they fail. The beauty of a political slogan lies in its ability to imply much and say little. Consider this from the Scottish National Party: “The Power for Change” and “It’s Scotland’s Oil”. Or this from different parties in Canada: “Moving Forward” and “Someday is Now”. From Australia: “When It Matters” and “We’re for the Country”. In the UK the war of watchwords brought forth from the Labour Party “New Labour, New Life for Britain”, which was countered by the Conservatives with “New Labour, New Danger”. The mysterious appeared in “Britain Forward Not Back” and “Are You Thinking What We’re Thinking?”. And there was the especially irrelevant, “Proud of Britain”. But no place produces more sloganeering variety than America. How important is it there? [Thanks for joining us at EnglishMojo.com.] If cost is any indication, one group estimates that spending one season for 468 positions in Congress reached 2.6 billion dollars. That works out to nearly six million dollars per seat, and is said to average about $60 per vote in the Senate, and $35 per vote in the House. That’s a long way from the quaint 1840’s “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” and the beginnings of presidential campaigning. Americans have since gone through [...]