Hal Lillywhite

A Dictionary of Polspeak: What Politicians Really Mean Hal Lillywhite

Publisher Marketing: This dictionary will help citizens understand politicians and others who speak a language similar to English but with different meanings for the words and phrases. The book is both entertaining and informative. Do you think your representative or senator speaks English? Nope. What he speaks has only a superficial similarity to English. If you want to understand politicians you need to know something about their language. Words and phrases can have different meanings in different languages. For example, "rat" in English means a rodent that most people don't like. However in German it means "council," hence the German word for city hall is "Rathaus." (Pronunciation very similar to "rat house," make of that what you will.) If we are to understand the Germans we must know what the words mean as the Germans use them. Likewise politicians. To understand politicians we must know what the words mean when politicians use them. That means we must study their language. Politicians and many government officials speak Polspeak. Some journalists and academics also use Polspeak. The Polspeak language is easily mistaken for English since it uses the same words and phrases as does English. However in Polspeak those words and phrases do not mean what they would mean in English. In fact, much like English, a word in Polspeak can have more than one meaning, depending on the context and who is speaking. And much like English, the meaning of a Polspeak word can change with time and place. Adding to the confusion, in Polspeak that meaning tends to change even faster than in English.