Cute Phrases Can Kill

The Washington Post has an excellent article today about how important language is in framing the filibuster issue.

Republicans have tried to rechristen "nuclear option" as the "constitutional option," a less radioactive alternative.

According to an "expert," Republicans are usually pretty good at using language...

..."In general, Republicans have perfected the art of associative naming," says Deborah Tannen, a Georgetown University linguistics professor who has studied word choices in public discourse. Associative naming refers to linking products or ideas to pleasant or virtuous-sounding words, or unpleasant ones if you are against them. The term "partial-birth abortion," for example, constitutes a masterstroke in this regard, she says. As soon as opponents of this late-term abortion procedure injected the word "birth" into the debate, they won, Tannen says.

...So we're usually good at this stuff. But Sen. Trent Lott messed up and gave the Dems a gift by coining the prase "nuclear option."

And here's the funny thing: People literally advocating for nuclear energy don't even use the word nuclear (they call it "sustainable energy.")

"The implication of 'nuclear option' is way too hot and extreme," says GOP pollster Frank Luntz, an expert on political phraseology. Words define the debate in politics, he says. "Someone comes up with a cute phrase, like 'nuclear option,' and all of a sudden the debate is named.

"This is an example of how cute phrases can kill." He means this figuratively.