Posted on 11/22/2019 10:55:04 AM PST by karpov
Here’s the deal: Presidential candidates issue plenty of pointed barbs in debates, but they use a lot of filler language, too.
Phrases such as “let’s be clear” and “the end of the day,” buy the speaker time to collect themselves, think ahead and formulate an answer. Among the Democratic contenders, the fact is, Vice President Joe Biden utters them most frequently (and “the fact is” has been his most-used phrase).
The Wall Street Journal identified 23 commonly used three-, four- and five-word phrases and their variations spoken by candidates during the four Democratic presidential debates and tracked the number of times they were said.
Mr. Biden used almost six filler phrases for every 1,000 words he spoke, the highest rate among the Democrats still running and far above their average of 2.6.
Asked about the findings, Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo said, “The fact of the matter is that poll after poll has shown that Joe Biden is the candidate who will defeat” President Trump.
Debates are strange environments, linguists say. Candidates are under pressure to deliver quick, precise responses that sound extemporaneous. There is little of the back-and-forth of normal conversation, in which one speaker might backtrack or revise their phrasing based on feedback from the other participant.
“There’s a weird, artificial feeling to [debates],” said Julie Sedivy, a cognitive scientist who has written about politics and language.
The cognitive demands are high, so easy-to-summon phrases like “first of all” and “here’s the deal” allow candidates to momentarily hold the floor while they formulate the more substantive part of their statement, Ms. Sedivy said. For the listeners, the words draw attention to the speaker’s next remark while conveying certainty and authority.
“These seemingly empty bits of speech are doing quite a bit of work in an incredibly demanding environment,”
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
This buys Joe a lot of time to really think about what he wants to say.
And his answers STILL make no sense.
Any sentient person KNOWS Democrats cannot think. The so-called "debates' and the race to give away the most trillions proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
...and it still left Mr. Biden plenty of time for hair-sniffing and child-fondling.
TJ Ducklo said, “The fact of the matter is that poll after poll...”
You have never heard Trump utter one of those trite overused phrases.
at the end of the day, it is what it is, as well.
It’s better than I, I, I, Me, Me, Me that we got out of the last guy.
I actually keep a list...
Part 2, phrases.
We are better than this
Not who we are
Protect our democracy
Climate of fear
When was America ever great?
trying to rase awareness
bridge the gap between
diverse and inclusive
to start a conversation
white toxic misogynist
Wrongthink and Hatefacts
we choose truth over facts
This is what democracy looks like.
do not use gendered language.
“violent white supremacist ideology” that “offends us all.”
.
we won the popular vote
men can have periods
there are more than two genders
born this way
bake the cake bigot
2T in transfer payments setasides preferences aren’t enough we need reparations
Love trumps hate
.
When you are not a person who TOUCHED a book after HS, that is how you have to talk.
It means you are too uneducated to speak properly or like an individual
Love it - pertains to so many Dems....
Love Trump’s Hate!
My Favorite.
Thanks.
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