I've always loved Shakespeare. In english classes in high school, at a show, or just once in a while perusing a sonnet or two, his mastery of the English language gives me immense satisfaction. Those who know me well, know I love words. At first, my diction can sometimes appear arrogant and unnecessary to people I first meet. I've been told over the years by quite a few people that I have appeared to be putting people down by using big words when small ones will do.
I don't by this logic- use the word that best fits the sentence, whether it's well known or not. Yes, yes of course, there are times when brevity requires more terse statements, but for the most part, taking a moment to say what you mean to say precisely is very important. In the politics of your daily relationships, how you say and what words you use matters almost as much as tone. Creating a particular insinuation or suggestion while not saying something is important.
Getting to the point here, Obama has changed the Executive Branch's diction in a bunch of ways. This matters, a lot. One of the main reasons I like him so much as our president is simply his appreciation and use of words. Read any speech he wrote (I like the speech on race in Philly the most), and you will feel the words as much as you will read them. That man can write, and he can write meaning and clarity into topics that are often obscured and ignored.
Everyone should know at this point who pulled strings in the Bush administration - it was Rove and Cheney and their ilk that were creating imagery and nuanced language to inspire specific reactions. Obama does the same thing, only his team seems to be closer to Google than Microsoft in purpose if you get my drift...
No comments:
Post a Comment