Post by TMan on May 18, 2010 22:41:31 GMT -5
I went to Florida to watch the launch of the "last" mission of the shuttle Atlantis, so I'm playing catchup at this point.
One of the things in the news is the "misspoke of CT atty Gen Richard Blumenthal (D) a U.S. Senate Candidate where he "misspoke" about his service in Vietnam.
I was in Vietnam from Dec 28th 1964 to Dec 10th 1965 in the USAF. Being in the USAF, we did come under mortar attack, but let me tell you that working in the Command Post was far different than the USMC troups that were there in 1968 under fire in the jungles.
Incidentally, the reason for my curtailment i.e. I left prior to Dec 28th, 1965 was because I saved an E9 from getting busted. He had infuluence and repaid the debt.
We never went to bed before midnight, because that was the time that the V.C. would hit us. Again - I had it easy, but I resent the statements made by the Democrat Blumenthal in PA that he was in Vietnam, and he was never there.
One of the things in the news is the "misspoke of CT atty Gen Richard Blumenthal (D) a U.S. Senate Candidate where he "misspoke" about his service in Vietnam.
The weasel word, “Misspoke”
While apologizing to someone this morning for having inadvertently but carelessly said something that wasn’t true, I caught myself about to use the word “misspoke” and then thought — Hang on, what does that word actually mean?
I realized that the word had come to mind because of Hillary Clinton’s having said that she “misspoke” when she claimed that she’d had to run across a tarmac airfield in order to avoid sniper fire after landing in Bosnia as first lady in 1996.
I then realized instantly that “misspoke” is a weasel word. Weasel words are derived from the weasel’s habit of sucking the contents out of an egg without destroying its shell, and are
deliberately misleading or ambiguous language used to avoid making a straightforward statement while giving the appearance that such has been made. Weasel words are used to deceive, distract, or manipulate an audience. (Wikipedia)
It’s a perfectly valid word in some contexts, of course. We all misspeak from time to time, by which I mean that we mean to say one thing but actually say another. In talking about something that happened last decade I say that it happened in the 1980’s, forgetting that we’re now in the 2000’s. Or I say “increase” when I clearly meant to say “decrease” or “Germany” when I meant to say France. Misspeakings are generally easy to catch, and usually another participant in a conversation can step in and correct the misstatement — because it’s obvious what was intended.
But what does it mean when someone claims to have “misspoken” in saying that she had to run across the tarmac in order to dodge sniper fire, when in fact she walked calmly across the tarmac months into a ceasefire and participated in a ceremony that included a young child? This is no slip of the tongue. To be generous it’s a gross exaggeration (the unlikely possibility of sniper fire did actually exist) and at worst it’s an outright lie intended to convince her audience that she has been tested under fire (literally) and that she has experience that she in fact lacks.
And as for the supposed retraction, in which she confessed only to having “misspoken” — that seems like the perfect example of a weasel word, intended to convey that her gross exaggeration (or lie) was merely a slip of the tongue, embarrassing, perhaps — like calling your wife by the name of an ex-girlfriend — but at heart innocently done.
The word “misspoke” has now in fact become the standard weasel word for politicians wishing to confess their sins while making it appear that they haven’t really done anything wrong.
Rudy Giuliani “misspoke” when he said he was at Ground Zero “as often, if not more than the workers” and “I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to.” (He wasn’t).
John McCain “misspoke” when he declared that his ability to walk freely in the marketplace was a sign of a significant improvement in security in Iraq — not mentioning the heavy security that surrounded him.
It’s time that politicians were challenged on the use of this particular weasel word.
While apologizing to someone this morning for having inadvertently but carelessly said something that wasn’t true, I caught myself about to use the word “misspoke” and then thought — Hang on, what does that word actually mean?
I realized that the word had come to mind because of Hillary Clinton’s having said that she “misspoke” when she claimed that she’d had to run across a tarmac airfield in order to avoid sniper fire after landing in Bosnia as first lady in 1996.
I then realized instantly that “misspoke” is a weasel word. Weasel words are derived from the weasel’s habit of sucking the contents out of an egg without destroying its shell, and are
deliberately misleading or ambiguous language used to avoid making a straightforward statement while giving the appearance that such has been made. Weasel words are used to deceive, distract, or manipulate an audience. (Wikipedia)
It’s a perfectly valid word in some contexts, of course. We all misspeak from time to time, by which I mean that we mean to say one thing but actually say another. In talking about something that happened last decade I say that it happened in the 1980’s, forgetting that we’re now in the 2000’s. Or I say “increase” when I clearly meant to say “decrease” or “Germany” when I meant to say France. Misspeakings are generally easy to catch, and usually another participant in a conversation can step in and correct the misstatement — because it’s obvious what was intended.
But what does it mean when someone claims to have “misspoken” in saying that she had to run across the tarmac in order to dodge sniper fire, when in fact she walked calmly across the tarmac months into a ceasefire and participated in a ceremony that included a young child? This is no slip of the tongue. To be generous it’s a gross exaggeration (the unlikely possibility of sniper fire did actually exist) and at worst it’s an outright lie intended to convince her audience that she has been tested under fire (literally) and that she has experience that she in fact lacks.
And as for the supposed retraction, in which she confessed only to having “misspoken” — that seems like the perfect example of a weasel word, intended to convey that her gross exaggeration (or lie) was merely a slip of the tongue, embarrassing, perhaps — like calling your wife by the name of an ex-girlfriend — but at heart innocently done.
The word “misspoke” has now in fact become the standard weasel word for politicians wishing to confess their sins while making it appear that they haven’t really done anything wrong.
Rudy Giuliani “misspoke” when he said he was at Ground Zero “as often, if not more than the workers” and “I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to.” (He wasn’t).
John McCain “misspoke” when he declared that his ability to walk freely in the marketplace was a sign of a significant improvement in security in Iraq — not mentioning the heavy security that surrounded him.
It’s time that politicians were challenged on the use of this particular weasel word.
I was in Vietnam from Dec 28th 1964 to Dec 10th 1965 in the USAF. Being in the USAF, we did come under mortar attack, but let me tell you that working in the Command Post was far different than the USMC troups that were there in 1968 under fire in the jungles.
Incidentally, the reason for my curtailment i.e. I left prior to Dec 28th, 1965 was because I saved an E9 from getting busted. He had infuluence and repaid the debt.
We never went to bed before midnight, because that was the time that the V.C. would hit us. Again - I had it easy, but I resent the statements made by the Democrat Blumenthal in PA that he was in Vietnam, and he was never there.
