Free Republic

In his weekly opinion column, Brian Walden considers the political muddle created by archaic terms such as left wing and right wing. Of all the confusing expressions in politics, left wing and right wing are the worst. We go on using these archaic terms because they're a kind of shorthand that avoids unnecessary explanations. But we'd be better off with the explanations, even if they took time. The basic terminology of politics has become misleading. Groping around to discover what's left wing or right wing distracts us from stating what the real issues are. The language of left and right...

A Gas A lot of fun. All show and no go. Referenced to a car that had all the pretty chrome goodies, but wouldn't get out of its own way. Ape Used with "Go", "Gone" or "Went". To explode or go completely irate. Example: "When my parents saw my report card, they went ape. BA Bare Ass Bad Awesome. Badass A tough guy. A guy you really don't want to mess with. Thanks again to Ron Stowe for this one. Bag To Steal. Example: Who bagged my towel? ; also see Score Also; "What's your bag" meaning what's your problem...

Whenever I travel to a foreign country where the language spoken is something other than English, I try to learn a few words to make it easier to get around. During the four years I have served in the liberal-dominated California Legislature, I have often felt like I was in a foreign country, particularly coming from Orange County. They may speak English up there, but it is a dialect that has taken me several years to understand. You see, the words and phrases that liberals use do not always mean the same things to them that they mean to you...

Many performance evalutions are due shortly,therefore it would behove folks to understand the glossary of job evaluation. a keen analyst - thoroughly confused accepts new job assignments willingly - never finishes a job active socially - drinks heavily adapts to stress - passes wind, water, or out depending upon the severity of the situation aggressive - obnoxious alert to company developments - an office gossip an excellent sounding board - present reviewee with any number of alternatives, and implement them in the order precisely opposite of his/her specification a planner and organizer - usually manages to put on socks before...

wondering if you all could maybe create a legend/glossary for some of the acronyms and terms used in the postings for the newbies...

    For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.     Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!       ~ MILITARY SHORT SPEAK ~             The military seems to have a language of its own, with many terms, acronyms, initialisms and abbreviations that aren't generally used in the "civilian world." What is an acronym? It is a word created from the first letter of a series of other words. It is spoken as one word.  What is an initialism?...

Just as the term "Clintonesque" has become a standard term to describe sleaze, dishonesty, calculated political attacks, etc...can we now use the term Kerryesque to descibe: -Lack of conviction -Flip-flopping -Being on both sides of an issue in one breath! -etc All in favor say AYE! and start using the term everywhere...especially in Letters to Editors, FR posts, discussions with other conservatives, phone calls to talk shows, debates with liberal "friends", etc.

A revised and condensed version of The Lexicon of FreeRepublic, culled from the original thread. Thanks to the many Freepers who contributed! FreeRepublic Glossary Anti-Freeper - See Freeper Lore. Arkancide = Mysterious death that somehow manages to happen to former friends of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Usually ruled a "suicide" by the "controlling legal authorities" that happen to be conducting the investigation. Usually the body is found with all the fixin's; suicide note (in two or more handwriting styles), unregistered handgun (sometimes in a different caliber than the one the "suicide" was accomplished using), and "air-tight" alibis passed around like...

<p>Liberal politicians and media figures often put forth the claim that certain words, when used by conservatives, "really" mean something else, and must be translated for the general public to understand.</p> <p>Well, liberals have their own code phrases too. When you see or hear one of the following phrases from a liberal, you can simply substitute the real meaning, and then you can understand what they're talking about.</p>

Will someone post a list of FR abbreviations and their meanings? Ping lists...bump...what do they mean??!! Help!

<p>Let's start using the correct vocabulary. The Iraq conflict should be known as The Battle Of Iraq, not the war. The war is on Terrorism, and is being fought worldwide. During World War II, when Rommel was running over North Africa, it wasn't know as the War In Africa, and we didn't lose the war because of temporary losses. We have now won the Battle of Iraq, and the Battle of Afghanistan, but the war continues. The battle of Lybia has already been won without firing a shot.</p>

They're all Deviants!So another rogue judge/official is "run amuck" with non state-endorsed "same sex" marriages. I'm in a politically incorrect mood. I propose a national campaign by heterosexuals to redefine gay to mean "a state of happiness". When was that word redefined by the homosexual agenda? Where did the word "homosexual" go? Now it's "same sex". It's ludicrous to me that we are going to redefine traditional words because of the agenda of less than 3% of our population. What's next, a marriage between 3 people? How about a marriage between an adult and a consensual child? Why not let...

Corporate Job Terminology COMPETITIVE SALARY: We remain competitive by paying less than our competitors.      JOIN OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY: We have no time to train you.      CASUAL WORK ATMOSPHERE: We don't pay you enough to expect that you'll dress nicely.      MUST BE DEADLINE ORIENTED: You'll be six months behind schedule on your first day.      MUST BE FLEXIBLE: On many occasions, you'll be asked to bend over and grab your ankles.      SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED: Some time each night and some time each weekend.      DUTIES WILL VARY: Anyone in the office can boss you around.      MUST...

What is a Republican? A boring, academic-sounding question, but an important one. We are headed into the most decisive presidential election since 1980. Democrats seem to know where they stand: Whatever President Bush is for, they're against. Not inspiring, but it makes them happy. Republicans, though, must do better: A simple transposition of the Democratic program ("Whatever the president is for, so are we") is not enough. The country needs to know what principles Republicans stand for. And our principles have nothing to do with Iraq or tax cuts, not directly; Republican principles go deeper. They are democracy and patriotism....

Democrat Male: They describe themselves as weak, indecisive, cowardly and unaccountable. Prime Example: They want the United Nations to be USA's decision maker because of their inability to make proper judgement calls.Democrat Female: They come off as silly, ignorant, and senseless.Another Prime Example: They feel the Federal Government (only the Democrats mind you) can take better care of their needs than themselves or their male counterpoints. The joke is their democrat leadership does not feel they can take better care of them either and calls for the United Nations to tell them what to do.Democrat by Herediary: My mother, father,...

Fifth Edition of The Lexicon of FreeRepublic, culled from the original thread and subsequent editions. Thanks to the many Freepers who contributed! FreeRepublic Glossary Alpha Freeper - Top tier Freeper who can post most anything and draw dozens of replies from other alpha Freepers. Anti-Freeper - See Freeper Lore. Arkancide = Mysterious death that somehow manages to happen to former friends of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Usually ruled a "suicide" by the "controlling legal authorities" that happen to be conducting the investigation. Usually the body is found with all the fixin's; suicide note (in two or more handwriting styles), unregistered...

The function of this propaganda was not to persuade, much less to inform, but rather to humiliate. To have the grossest lies poured into your ears and eyes all the time, day and night, and yet not to protest their untruth, but on the contrary to participate in their propagation, and to behave as if you believed they were true -- that is the ultimate dehumanization of man, for it robs him of meaningful language. Theodore Dalrymple National Post October 10, 2003 Their Words are as Plastic as Their Cutlery

WASHINGTON — To dig into the whodunit roiling the capital, we need a glossary: • leak, plain and simple, is the unauthorized passage of information from a source, an official in the know, to a media plantee. It can be deliberate or inadvertent. • leaker who is admired for putting his notion of the public interest ahead of his official obligation or oath is called a whistle-blower; the same individual, viewed from inside, is called a fink, and is pursued vainly by plumbers.• authorized leak is information passed on to a selected outlet with high-level approval by a designated persuader...

<p>Foreign policy debates have hardly been muted in recent months, but with the United Nations now back in session, there's a lot more verbiage on the way. One of the treacherous aspects of this war we are now fighting is the strange, officious vocabulary, often hollow and sometimes wrong, with which we have been wrangling over matters of life and death. Surrounded by the efficiencies of the digital age, we nonetheless drag into the political arena big stacks of moldy baggage from which we then unpack the verbal equivalents of a great white elephant show--titles, phrases and metaphors so warped or cumbersome they cannot at the same time haul their own weight and carry any real meaning.</p>

What does it mean to be liberal or conservative in politics today? ART COULSON Editorial Page Editor Liberal. Conservative. The terms are tossed about like grenades in the current war for the soul of American politics. We in the newspaper business — particularly those of us who speak as the institutional voices of our newspapers on the editorial pages — are often labeled with these words by our readers. Some on the right call us liberals. Their neighbors on the left believe us to be conservative. But what do these terms really mean? Is Republican California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger...