Own the language, own the debate.

Democrats are terrible about owning the language. We let Republicans define the terms, leaving us looking like dopes trying to come out in favor of “the death tax,” “partial birth abortion” rights, or against “the war on terror” or “global warming.” These are all terms invented or popularized by the right, and we buy right into them. to win the debate, you’ve got to master the terminology and, ideally, own the language.

UN Berkeley professor of cognitive linguistics George Lakoff has some valuable thoughts along these lines, in an interview on the matter of linguistic dominance (or lack thereof) on the part of Democrats.

Q: You’ve said that progressives should never use the phrase “war on terror” — why?

A: There are two reasons for that. Let’s start with “terror.” Terror is a general state, and it’s internal to a person. Terror is not the person we’re fighting, the “terrorist.” The word terror activates your fear, and fear activates the strict father model, which is what conservatives want. The “war on terror” is not about stopping you from being afraid, it’s about making you afraid.

Next, “war.” How many terrorists are there — hundreds? Sure. Thousands? Maybe. Tens of thousands? Probably not. The point is, terrorists are actual people, and relatively small numbers of individuals, considering the size of our country and other countries. It’s not a nation-state problem. War is a nation-state problem.

It’s a fairly brief read, and well worth it for anybody who isn’t familiar with the importance of setting the agenda through using persuasive terminology.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »