Tag Archives: media

Trump’s Cabinet – Shakeup and Turnover

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

This week we learned in the news that Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly, may be leaving by the end of the year.  His departure would be one in a long series of Trump advisors resigning or being forced out of office in the past two years, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, EPA director Scott Pruitt, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and many more.  I have noticed that there is a wide variety of metaphors used to describe the process of removing advisors from a presidential cabinet.

An antique cabinet at the Palace of Versailles in Paris

Before we get to the metaphors, first a word about the word cabinet itself.  At first glance it may appear to be a metaphor as well.  However, it is an example of polysemy (puh-LISS-uh-me), i.e., a word having different meanings that change over time.  The original meaning of cabinet was what we normally think of as a kitchen cabinet, a small box for containing valuables. Later the meaning changed to a small private room.  Then the people who met in that room became known as a cabinet council.  Later the phrase was shortened to simply cabinet. Thus we now refer to the president’s trusted group of advisors as the cabinet.

Sound strange? A more familiar example of this is the room board. We know the word as referring to a plank of wood.  We all know the expression as living in a house and paying room and board.  The board refers to the table on which the renters ate their meals.  This is an example of synecdoche (sih-NECK-duh-key) in which a part of something refers to the whole.  Moreover, the word board was stretched even further to refer to a group of experts in a company, university or non-profit organization, as in a board of trustees.   The table where the experts met came to refer to the group of people who met there.

Back to the metaphors, we find that the process of people being hired and then fired in Donald Trump’s cabinet are described in terms a colorful variety of metaphors.  Of course, changes in a president’s cabinet are not unusual. All presidents have had advisors come and go.  However, President Trump has had an unusually large number of cabinet members resign or be fired.  The metaphors listed below are all “ripped from the headlines.”  The source of each quotation is provided, linked to the word “example” at the beginning of each quotation.  Italics are mine.

First of all, there are several metaphors used to describe the confusion that occurs when cabinet members are fired.  One way to describe the confusion is the say that is in flux, a word originally from Latin indicating the flow of water, as in an influx of tourists in a seaside community during the summer.  More commonly, the word flux refers to the rapid changes in a process.  The abstract concept of movement in a process is often compared to the physical movement of objects. The confusing process may also be described as if it is a deck of cards being shuffled, or mixed back and forth. Similarly, we may describe the process as being a shakeup, as if we are shaking small objects in a container, or a drink in a cocktail shaker. This hiring and firing process is also commonly described as a turnover, as if people are turning objects upside down and then right side up again, or baking an apple turnover.  Finally, we may also find examples of this process referred to as a revolving door, as if people are going in and out of a doorway into a large building.

Example:  “President Donald Trump’s Cabinet is in flux again.”

Example:  “On March 13, Trump fired his first secretary of state Rex Tillerson, shuffling the Cabinet again.”

Example:  “The president has been discussing multiple Cabinet shakeup options with his advisers.”

 

 

Example:  “In the president’s first two years in office, his Cabinet has seen far greater turnover than those of presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama over the same time period, according to a Cabinet tracker by the Brookings Institution.”

Example:  “The Trump Administration’s Revolving Door”

We also find many examples of metaphors being used for the actual process of leaving.  In some instances, we see neutral metaphors such as stepping down or exiting, as if a person is simply stepping down off a platform or exiting from a room.  However, we also find other more active metaphors being used, suggesting the use of physical force to move the person.  For example, perhaps the most common metaphor to describe a person leaving a position is that he or she is out. The word out is a common container metaphor, as if a person had been inside a box, and then he or she was forced to move out of the container.  More forceful metaphors include examples such as being pushed out or ousted, the latter being derived from an old French word meaning to forcibly remove someone from a location. Less politely, we find that a cabinet member can be dumped, as if he or she is an unwanted item going into the trash. In another sense of removal, we also find the word purge, which is also derived from a French word meaning to “clean” or “purify.”  Finally, we find an interesting box metaphor of someone being on the ropes before being fired, as if the person is a boxer about to lose an important fight in the ring.  In the example of mixed metaphors listed below, a person is being pushed out after being on the ropes while the administration is going through a shuffle of cabinet members.

 

Example:  “CNN reported Friday morning that Kelly could be stepping down in a matter of days, but Trump did not pause long enough to take questions from reporters, though he teased he would make another big personnel announcement Saturday at the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia.”

Example:  “Behind the scenes: Trump announces John Kelly’s exit”

Example:  “Jeff Sessions out as attorney general”

Example:  “John Kelly, hired to restore order for President Donald Trump, is out as chief of staff.”

Example:  “After two years of already high turnover, the president is expected to push out or accept the resignations of several more department chiefs by January.”

Example:  “The larger GOP margin in the Senate is especially important because Trump might now have the votes to confirm a new attorney general. Before the election, Republicans had warned Trump not to replace Sessions when they did not have the votes—a deficit that was due to the political blowback that would come if the president tried to oust Sessions in a transparent bid to curtail the Mueller investigation.”

Example:  “After Sessions, who will Trump dump next?”

 

Example:  “Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have been the first Trump Cabinet-level member purged in the wake of the midterm elections — but he is unlikely to be the last.”

Example:  “Several Trump Cabinet officials and senior aides are on the ropes and could be pushed out by the end of the year in a dramatic shuffle that could reshape the character of his administration — but create new political headaches for the president.”

 

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As readers of this blog already know, almost any political process can be described in terms of metaphors. The examples listed here offer more evidence that we think in metaphors and that we commonly describe abstract process in terms of metaphors based on ordinary physical actions such as shaking, turning or moving something in and out of containers.  I am always amazed how many examples of these types of metaphors I can find.  Let me know if you have any comments or questions.  Thanks for reading!

A Tsunami of Immigrants?

Figurative Language, Immigration, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, war, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The contentious topic of immigration has been in the news the past few weeks.  The Trump administration allegedly directed two government agencies – DSH, the Department of Homeland Security, and ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – to separate children from their parents at several different border checkpoints in Texas.  Public outcry has led to policy changes and the reunification of most of these families.  However, the crisis highlighted years of discrimination against immigrants going back to the founding of this country.  This sort of discrimination against immigrants has been alive and well in Europe for hundreds of years as well.

Clues of this type of discrimination can be found in the metaphors used to describe immigrants.  While many are neutral terms, others are clearly negative in their connotations. A few years ago, the blogger David Shariatmadari wrote a nice article entitled “Swarms, floods and marauders: the toxic metaphors of the migration debate” on how negative metaphors in England are used against immigrants using such terms as swarms or floods of migrants or describing them as marauders.  Also, a recent article in the Atlantic by Franklin Foer describes “How ICE Went Rogue,” detailing how ICE agents have become increasingly aggressive in arresting and deporting immigrants regardless of their legal or illegal immigration status. Formerly, ICE agents were restricted by government policies as to whom they could arrest.  After Donald Trump became president, ICE officials claimed that their handcuffs were removed.

I have discussed metaphors of immigration in past blog posts but I thought it was time to take a fresh look.  I originally thought that most immigration metaphors were negative, such as those listed above, but recently I have found examples of neutral metaphors, i.e., those that simply describe immigrants or immigration issues without negative connotations. What follows is a short list of metaphors from several different concepts including war, insects, animals, nature, rivers and oceans.  For clarity, I indicate whether each type of metaphor is neutral or negative.  I include examples from recent news articles with links to each source.  Some examples are excerpts from articles; others are merely headlines.  Italics are mine.

 

War/Military Operations – Negative

I found a few examples of metaphors from wars or military operations to describe immigrants. In addition to the marauder example mentioned earlier, I found evidence of politicians describing their countries as being under siege, under attack or being on the front lines of the battle with immigrants.

under siege

Example:  “British towns are being ‘swamped’ by immigrants, and their residents are ‘under siege’, Michael Fallon, the UK defence secretary, said on Sunday.” (source: The Financial Times)

under attack

Example:  “Trump Uses Language of Exterminators in Attack on ‘Illegal Immigrants’” (source: New Yorker Magazine)

front lines

Example:  “A town at the front lines of the migrant crisis: ‘We can’t let them die’” (source: the Los Angeles Times)

 

Insects and Animals – Negative

Sadly, large groups of immigrants coming into a country are often compared to bothersome insects or animals.  Donald Trump recently compared immigrants to animals that were infestingour country.  I include his tweet below along with a stunning criticism of this language usage by blogger Josh Marshall.  I also include examples of swarminginsects and stampeding cattle as suggested by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  Finally, I include the controversial example of Donald Trump calling some immigrants animals.  In his defense, he was referring to the violent MS-13 gang members, not all immigrants. 

infest

Example:  “Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!” (source: New Yorker Magazine)

“Josh Marshall makes the unavoidable historical connection:

‘The use of the word ‘infest’ to talk about people is literally out of the Nazi/anti-Semites’ playbook for talking about the Jewish threat. It was also a standard for talking about Chinese in the western United States and it remains part of the vocabulary for talking about Romani (Gypsies) in parts of Europe. This is the most hard-boiled kind of racist demagogic language, the kind that in other parts of the world has often preceded and signaled the onset of exterminationist violence. The verb ‘to infest’ is one generally used to describe insects or vermin (rats), creatures which are literally exterminated when they become present in a house or building or neighborhood.'”

swarm

Example:  “David Cameron criticised over migrant ‘swarm’ language” (source:  BBC)

animals

Example:  “We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals.” (source: New York Times)

stampede

Example:  “We are not going to let this country be overwhelmed,” Sessions told the press at a Wednesday news conference. “People are not going [to] caravan or otherwise stampede our border. We need legality and integrity in the system. People should wait their turn, ask to apply lawfully before they enter our country. So we’re sending a message worldwide.” (Source: Newsweek)

 

Nature – Neutral

It is very common to use our experiences with nature to describe abstract processes. With immigration issues, I found many examples of metaphors based on trees and erosion of hills to describe these issues, including problems that have a root cause or are deep rooted, grassroots opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, the erosion of national security or the danger of going down a slippery slope to beginning to take away civil rights of Americans.

deep rooted

Example:  “There are an estimated 11m-12m immigrants living in the United States illegally, most of them Latino. Many have families, jobs and property, and far deeper roots in America than in their countries of origin.” (source: The Economist)

grassroots

Example:  “From ‘angry grandmas’ to lemonade stands: How grass-roots groups stepped in to help separated families” (source: CNN)

root cause

Example:  “Letter: To curb illegal immigration, find the root cause” (source: The Chicago Tribune)

erode

Example:  “President Donald Trump’s recent tweets against open borders come as no surprise. Indeed, even fervent immigration advocates worry that open borders would lower the wages of low-skilled natives, erode national security, and overburden the social safety net.” (source: USA Today)

slippery slope

Example:  “The slippery slope of the Trump administration’s political embrace of calling MS-13 ‘animals’” (source:  The Washington Post)

 

Nature – Negative

There are also a few examples of metaphors of nature with negative connotations.  Since some immigrants come into countries illegally, they often hide from authorities and can be described as living in the shadows. The difficult social and economic problems of immigration are sometimes called thorny issues while these immigration issues can be compared to a swamp or quagmire.   Sadly, movements of immigrants into a country may be compared to a natural disaster such as an avalanche.

shadows

Example:  “Illustrations tell story of family ‘living in the shadows’ because of illegal immigration” (source:  West Palm Beach TV)

thorny

Example:  “The Thorny Economics of Illegal Immigration” (source: The Wall Street Journal)

quagmire

Example:  “Republicans caught in immigration quagmire” (source:  USimmigration.com)

avalanche

Example:  “Spain set for ‘avalanche’ of African immigrants” (source: The Local)

 

 

 

Rivers and Oceans – Neutral

Movement of people is often compared to the movement of water in rivers or oceans.  These metaphors can be both neutral or negative in their connotations.  A few neutral metaphors include having a wave, tide or steady stream of immigrants.  The word influx is of Latin origin meaning “flowing in.”  Thus we also find an influx of immigrants in news articles. We can also see a ripple effect of one event influencing another.  In this case, we see the ripple effect of immigration policies on the lives of immigrants.

wave

Example:  “The United States experienced major waves of immigration during the colonial era, the first part of the 19th century and from the 1880s to 1920.” (source: history.com)

tide

Example:  “The Deadly Cost of Turning Back the Immigration Tide” (source: the Daily Beast)

steady stream

Example:  “Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas economists estimate that immigrants and their children comprised more than half of the US workforce growth in the last 20 years and expect this group to make up an even larger percentage over the next 20 years. And, according to Pew Research Center, without a steady stream of a total of 18 million immigrants between now and 2035, the share of the US working-age population could decrease to 166 million.” (source: CNN)

influx

Example:  “Illegal Immigration Influx Continues — 50,000 Attempt Border Crossing for Second Straight Month” (source: townhall.com)

ripple effect

Example:  “The deadly ripple effect of harsh immigration policies” (source: open democracy.net)

Rivers and Oceans – Negative

We can also find examples of water movement metaphors with a negative connotation.  As we saw with an avalanche of immigrants, some metaphors compare immigrant movements to natural disasters, this time caused by rivers or oceans.   Thus, we can find examples of politicians trying to stem the flow of immigrants, being swamped or flooded by immigrants.  In an extreme example, we can also talk about a tsunami of immigrants as if they are causing great damage and destruction.

stem the flow

Example:  “TRUMP’S WALL ISN’T GOING TO STEM THE FLOW OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS” (source: Newsweek)

swamped

Example:  “British towns are being “swamped” by immigrants, and their residents are “under siege”, Michael Fallon, the UK defence secretary, said on Sunday.” (source: The Financial Times)

flood

Example:  “Myth No. 1: Undocumented immigrants are flooding into the United States”  (source: The Washington Post)

tsunami

Example:  “Immigration crisis: Official: ‘A tsunami of people crossing the border’” (source: Fox News)

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The obvious question is why people have such negative attitudes towards immigrants. In the United States, everyone except Native Americans is an immigrant.  And yet some politicians, themselves with immigrant backgrounds, set policies restricting movement of immigrants into the country.  The usual explanation is that these immigrants are coming into the country illegally whereas their ancestors came legally. However, most immigrants would come legally if the laws were not so restrictive.  Almost all migrants go to another country to escape persecution, economic crisis or to create a better life for themselves and their children. My own Irish ancestors came to the United States after the potato famine in Ireland during which thousands of people died from starvation.  Many modern immigrants coming into the United States are escaping wars in Central America while those going into Europe and the United Kingdom are escaping brutal conflicts in the Middle East.  Who can blame them for trying to survive? I would hope that modern governments accept immigrants into their countries with the same compassion and understanding that was extended to our ancestors.

 

MLK Day 2018 – Resistance!

Figurative Language, Martin Luther King Jr., Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, , , , , , , , , , ,

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this year, I would like to note a couple milestones. For the blog, I recently passed the mark of writing this blog for five years. Gulp! Seems like only yesterday that I started writing these blog posts. There have been more than 550,000 views from 198 countries. Not too shabby for an academic blog, eh? I have to thank Martin Luther King, Jr. for a great deal of interest in the blog. Apparently, every high school and college student in the world must do research on the metaphors of MLK’s speeches, especially his “I Have a Dream Speech” which remains, by far, my most popular post.

More importantly, last year marked an incredible resurgence in popular uprisings by ordinary people. And this year will mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. being assassinated in April 1968. Anyone who has studied the life and work of MLK knows that he always hoped that ordinary people would rise up and fight for justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said that “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.” Although there were a few protests by ultra conservatives such as the alt-right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, most of the protests were for liberal causes including women’s rights, racial equality, better treatment of minorities by police, gender equality, income equality, the right to affordable health insurance, and fair immigration policies just to name a few.

Although we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. for his historic speeches and his work for the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, let us not forget that he was leading nonviolent protests for all sorts of discrimination and injustice. The night before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, he had been helping sanitation workers organize a strike for safer working conditions and higher wages. At that time he said, “We’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end.  Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through.”   A few weeks earlier, he was quoted as saying, “You are demonstrating that we can stick together. You are demonstrating that we are all tied in a single garment of destiny, and that if one black person suffers, if one black person is down, we are all down.”  (See the excellent encyclopedia on Dr. King at Stanford for more information.)

Kente cloth from Ghana – a single garment?

Here again we have another beautiful example of an MLK metaphor – “tied in a single garment of destiny.” I believe Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud of all the protesters around the world fighting for justice for everyone.

So, what does all of this have to do with metaphors? I have noticed that many of the terms and phrases used to describe these protests are indeed metaphors. In fact, most of these metaphors are from the category of what I call body position or physical forces such as stand, stand up, resist, push, pull, strike back, etc.

For example, an online article by CNN reported that people in St. Louis last September protesting police brutality shouted that they were going to “stand up” and “fight back.”

Last January, the USA today reported that a man supporting his wife and daughters at the Women’s March in Washington D.C. stated the following:

Example: “It feels really important to stand up for civil society when powerful voices are lined up against it.”

The Washington Post published a headline last January on how the Democrats were going to push back against President Trump’s ban on Muslims:

Example: Democrats launch a full-scale opposition push against Trump’s executive order

Many papers reported on how corporations were going to pull ads from NFL games after many players were taking a knee to protests police treatment of African Americans. The Business Insider published the following headline this past November:

Example: Brands are threatening to pull ads from NFL coverage if NBC keeps covering players’ national-anthem protests

Another common metaphor used to describe the protests is to resist or create resistance. Some protest organizations label themselves as “the Resistance.” The Washington Post again had the headline:

Example: Women’s marches: More than one million protesters vow to resist President Trump

On occasion, protesters are described as striking back against those who are oppressing them. Last August, fast food workers, airport employees and others fighting for higher wages planned protests in Chicago on Labor Day:

Example: Massive Protests Planned for Labor Day as ‘Workers Strike Back’

Not surprisingly, the people perceived as the oppressors were also described as using physical forces to gain back their power. Breitbart News reported in September:

Example: NFL Sponsors Starting to Push Back Over Anthem Protests

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The news was filled with such metaphors last year as protests erupted over Donald Trump winning the presidency and his subsequent policy decisions. Here are a few more examples of the metaphors of body position and physical forces are used to describe politics in recent years.

Body Position – Standing

                  When people stand up, they have their maximum height and are in the best position for taking action or doing something. Thus, we have many metaphors about standing.

stand up

                  When we stand up, metaphorically we indicate strength for or against a certain position.

Example: During World War II, England, France and the United States stood up against the armies of Hitler.

take a stand

To take a stand means that one is firm in one’s beliefs.

Example: Martin Luther King, Jr. took a stand against the discrimination of African-Americans in the 1960s.

where one stands

To have an opinion or position on an important issue may be called where one stands on that issue.

Example: During a presidential campaign, a candidate must make clear where he or she stands on the important issues such as the economy and national defense.

standoff

                  In a standoff, two people, groups or countries do not fight but silently oppose each other hoping for a resolution of their problems.

Example: During the Cold War, there was a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. 

stance

                  When one takes a stand for or against something, one is also taking a stance.

Example: The Bush administration took the stance that the War in Iraq was necessary to remove the dictator Saddam Hussein.

longstanding

                  If something is longstanding, it is something that has been happening for a long time.

Example: Martin Luther King, Jr. was a powerful leader who took a stand against the longstanding civil rights abuses in the South and elsewhere in the United States.

posture

                  To have a posture is similar to taking a stance for or against something.

Example: The United Nations has always had the posture of protecting civil rights around the world.

Physical Forces

Push

The motion of pushing an object away from a person’s body is the source of many metaphors in politics, war and economics.

Example: Critics of the War in Iraq accused President Bush of pushing America into war without valid reasons for national security.

push back

                  When someone pushes against another person, the second person may push back to avoid being knocked down. Metaphorically, pushing back means to resist being pushed over by an outside force.

Example: To his credit, when Iraqi forces challenged American troops, President Bush pushed back and helped win the war.

push the issue

Focusing on a particular issue in government may be referred to as pushing it.

Example: President Obama pushed for health care reform in the first few years of his presidency.

push polls

A specific use of the push motion is in the phrase push poll. Normally in election years polling is done with neutral questions to determine opinions about issues or candidates. If the questions are misleading or designed to favor one candidate over another, we call these push polls, since the pollsters are pushing their opinions on to the those they are interviewing.

Example: Although no one approves of push polls, sometimes they can be used to persuade voters to change their minds about a candidate in a presidential election.

 

propel

Another word for push is propel. People or machines can propel objects or individuals with physical force. In politics, scandals, economic problems, military events or voters groups can propel a politician to win an election. Usually there is a positive upward connotation to the meaning of propel.

Example: Latino voters helped propel Barack Obama to victory in both 2008 and 2012.

Pull

The opposite of push is to pull, to move an object closer to the person instead of farther away. In metaphors, the pulling motion is used to describe many abstract activities.

pull out

One of the most common pull metaphors is the phrase to pull out, used to describe when people remove something or someone from a certain geographical area or situation.

Example: Barack Obama successfully pulled American troops out of Iraq by 2012.

pull back

Similar to pull out, pull back indicates retreating from a situation or lessening focus on a certain issue.

Example: Many American voters wanted the U.S. government to pull back their troops from Afghanistan instead of adding more troops.

 

yank their support

The word yank means to pull with great force or speed. In politics, donors or voters may yank their support for a candidate if he or she disappoints them with words or actions.

Example: Some conservative voters yanked their support for Rick Perry after disappointing debate performances in the 2011 Republican primaries.

draw

Another word with a similar meaning of pull is to draw. A politician can draw support or draw crowds because of his or her speaking abilities.

Example: Martin Luther King, Jr. was always able to draw huge crowds because of his amazing rhetorical skills.

Hit

Hitting an object with one’s fist or with a weapon is a very common physical motion. Metaphors based on this motion are covered in the chapters on Boxing and Military. Here are a few more examples.

Example: In 2012, Barack Obama’s reelection campaign was hit hard by low job growth.

strike back

Another word for hit is to strike. Metaphorically we often hear this term used in the phrase to strike back when someone is verbally arguing with someone.

Example: Mitt Romney struck back against charges that he does not pay his fair share of taxes.

strike down

To strike down means to revoke a law or current policy.

Example: Everyone expected the Supreme Court to strike down Obama’s health care program in 2012. Surprisingly they supported it.

crack down

To crack means to break something with a violent force. To crack down means to hit something with a downward motion. In terms of governments, to crack down means to severely limit the actions of a group of people.

Example: In 2012, President Obama tried to crack down on oil speculators, investors who were trying to make a profit from rising gas prices.

Press and Tighten

press

To press something means to push downwards or outwards on an object. Metaphorically, to press can also mean to verbally push a group of people towards a certain action.

Example: American presidents may have to press Congress to pass laws that his or her party has submitted.

pressure

The noun form of press is pressure, meaning an amount of force pushing down on an object. In common terms pressure can mean any type of force applied to a person or group by circumstance or another group of people. The most common phrases used are to be under pressure or keep pressure on something. Pressure may also be used as a verb with a similar meaning to press.

Example: During a recession, a U.S. president is constantly under pressure from the American people to create more jobs and revive the economy.

tamp down

To tamp or tamp down means to put slight pressure on something to make it more compact, as in tamping down dirt in a hole or coffee grounds in a coffee maker. Metaphorically, to tamp down means to reduce the quantity of something as in tamping down a controversy, rising fuel prices or negative campaigning.

Example: During a presidential election, candidates often try to tamp down criticisms that might make them look like they are not the best person for the job.

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As I have said many times in this space, it is surprising how many metaphors of violence are used to describe our politics. Reading these examples, it reminds me of how confrontational we are as a people, both figuratively in the halls of Congress and in the media, as well as literally in the streets when protestors face off against the police. It happens not just in America, but all over the world. Ironically, Martin Luther King, Jr. insisted on nonviolent protests but the very words we use to describe peaceful protests are derived from physical actions. We can only hope that Dr. King’s desire of equality for all people in the United States and around the world – tied in single garment of destiny – is some day realized without further protest or bloodshed.

Seasons and Light

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, , , , , , , , ,

With the change back to normal time from daylights savings time today, I thought it might be “time” to look back at a few metaphors about the changing of seasons and the amount of sunlight we enjoy in the summer and miss in the fall and winter. I was also remiss in not noting metaphors of the word eclipse as we experienced the amazing solar eclipse this past summer. Here are a few metaphors of seasons, sunlight, moonlight and eclipses.

seasoned

Most temperate climates have four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. Each of these seasons has its own set of metaphorical qualities. Spring is associated with life and new growth; summer is related to nice weather and easy living; fall or autumn is associated with life becoming more difficult or the end of one’s life; winter is connected to death and decay. Someone who is described as being seasoned is someone who has lived for many years and has gained a great deal of knowledge in his or her lifetime.

Example:   In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump was fairly new to politics, but Hillary Clinton was a seasoned political veteran.

spring

Example: In 2011, many countries in North Africa and the Middle East experienced revolutions. These changes in government are known as the Arab Spring.

 

 

nuclear winter

Example: During the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, a nuclear war would have killed everyone at the site of the war. This would have created a nuclear winter.

autumn

Example: President Ronald Reagan spent his autumn years on his ranch in California before passing away in 2004.

election season

Example: In many countries, elections only take a few weeks or months. In the United States, the election season for presidential elections lasts almost two years.

sunny

The concept of the light provided by the sun is involved in many English metaphors. Literally, a day is sunny if the sun is shining brightly. Metaphorically, a person or a situation can be sunny if the person is happy or the situation seems to be going well.

Example: After the 2008 financial crisis, most Americans hoped for sunny predictions for a quick economic recovery but the recession lasted for years after that.

sunlight, sunshine

The ideas of sunlight or sunshine can be used metaphorically to indicate that a situation is good or that a dark situation is made more clear. It is well known that bright sunlight can kill germs or disinfect a surface that might have germs. Thus we have an unusual phrase that sunlight is the best disinfectant which carries a metaphorical meaning that uncovering and discussing a problem is the best way to solve it.

Example: When it came to the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s, sunlight was the best disinfectant on President Nixon’s questionable practices at the Watergate Hotel.

shine

The word shine as an intransitive verb indicates the action of an object that gives off light such as the sun, moon or stars. However, people can also shine metaphorically if they do something to the best of their abilities.

Example: Although not many people knew Sarah Palin before 2007, John McCain choosing her as his running mate allowed her to shine on a national stage.

dawn of a new day

Dawn is the time that the sun first rises in the morning and shines light on a person’s part of the world. The phrase dawn of a new day indicates that a new time period is beginning usually with a positive connotation.

Example: When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, many Americans thought it was the dawn of a new day for progressive reforms in government. However, the lack of progress in Congress in his first term left the country with many of the same problems as the previous decades.

dawn on

Metaphorically, the phrase to dawn on means to realize something as if it is the first time that an idea comes into a person’s head.

Example: For most Americans, the idea that the United States could be attacked by terrorists seemed impossible until September 11, 2001 when it dawned on them that it was indeed possible.

on the horizon

The horizon is the line between the sky and the land from the perspective of wherever one is looking at a distance. Metaphorically, a horizon indicates anything that is possible in the future.

Example: During the start of an economic downturn, most Americans realize that are probably going to be many budget cuts and job losses on the horizon.

rainbow coalition

A rainbow is a pattern of all colors of light in an arc across the sky after a rainstorm. The concept of many colors together is used metaphorically to indicate many different races of people working together. A coalition is a group of people who work together for a common cause. Many countries have such groups called rainbow coalitions.

Example: The Reverend Jesse Jackson’s social activism group of many races working together is called the Rainbow Coalition.

dark

In contrast to the positive connotations of sunlight, darkness has many negative connotations such as evil, illegal activity or unethical behavior.

Example: During the Great Depression of the 1930s, there were many dark days for Americans who could not find work or afford to feed their families.

shadows

When sunlight hits an object, a dark shadow is cast behind it. Metaphorically, a shadow indicates the dark part of a person or situation, often meaning secretive or illegal activities.

Example: Americans do not like it when their elected officials make deals in the shadows. Government work should be done in the light of day when everyone can see what is going on.

shadowy figures

People whose identities or behavior is unknown may be called shadowy figures especially if they are suspected of illegal or unethical behavior.

Example: Osama bin Laden was known for years as a shadowy figure before he began his terrorist attacks on the United States.

moonlight

The moon is the subject of many stories and myths in every culture around the world. Doing something in the moonlight indicates that it is not completely clear what is happening. However, moonlight is used most often as a verbal metaphor indicating that someone is working at night, usually doing a second or third job in addition to one’s day job.

Example: People who have jobs with low wages often moonlight in other occupations in order to earn enough money to pay their bills.

eclipse

An eclipse is a rare phenomenon when the earth passes directly between the sun and the moon (a lunar eclipse) or when the moon passes directly between the sun and the earth (a solar eclipse) temporarily blocking out the light of the sun. In metaphorical terms, a person, group or action that becomes more important that the previous one may be called an eclipse.

Example: Voter turnout by minorities in the 2008 presidential election eclipsed all other elections up to that point.

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Stay tuned for more metaphors of the fall!  Thanks for reading!

 

Metaphors of Truthiness, Part 2

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, , , , , , , , , , ,

Today I continue Part 2 of my analysis of metaphors in a brilliant new article about facts and opinions in the latest issue of The Atlantic magazine by Kurt Andersen. (Mr. Andersen, by the way, will be a guest on the Bill Maher show this coming Friday.) This time I will analyze the conceptual metaphors of vision, objects, clothing, balance and gravity, science, buildings, movement and literary references.

Vision

Since we experience the world through our five senses, it is not surprising that we find metaphors of vision in many articles on politics. Andersen claims that being sane or insane is not a binary choice; rather we are on a spectrum somewhere between the two extremes, as if we are on a light spectrum representing all colors. Seeing reality clearly is very important. Metaphorically, not seeing clearly is referred to as blurring the lines, as if our vision is failing. In an unusual metaphor, Andersen also refers to these unclear lines as if they are obscured by smog on a city skyline.

spectrum

Example: “Each of us is on a spectrum somewhere between the poles of rational and irrational.”

blur the lines

Example: “Today, each of us is freer than ever to custom-make reality, to believe whatever and pretend to be whoever we wish. Which makes all the lines between actual and fictional blur and disappear more easily. Truth in general becomes flexible, personal, subjective.”

smog

Example: “The intellectuals’ new outlook was as much a product as a cause of the smog of subjectivity that now hung thick over the whole American mindscape. After the ’60s, truth was relative, criticizing was equal to victimizing, individual liberty became absolute, and everyone was permitted to believe or disbelieve whatever they wished.”

 

Objects

One of the most confusing types of metaphors to explain is the type in which an abstract concept is treated as if it is a physical object. In yet another way to describe people with crazy behavior is to say that they are untethered from reality. The word tether originally meant a rope to secure an animal on a farm. Later it was also used to describe a line used to secure a blimp to its mooring. In any case, someone who is untethered from reality is clearly disconnected from a position of safety or control. We also describe unusual or illegal behavior as if it is an object that can be hidden from view. Thus we have the metaphorical phrase of a cover up. Social events or services can also be described as having an upside or a downside as if we are looking at an object from a certain point of view. In an unusual metaphor, Andersen describes the contours of reality as if it is a round object with a particular shape to be studied. Finally, another strange but common way to describe crazy behavior is to say that people are loopy, as if their body is in the form of metal loops that never quite line up to a complete circle.

untethered

Example: “When did America become untethered from reality?”

cover up

Example: “The infiltration by the FBI and intelligence agencies of left-wing groups was then being revealed, and the Watergate break-in and its cover-up were an actual criminal conspiracy.”

downside, upside

Example: “Particularly for a people with our history and propensities, the downside of the Internet seems at least as profound as the upside.”

contours of reality

Example: “Today I disagree about political issues with friends and relatives to my right, but we agree on the essential contours of reality.”

loopy

Example: “Another way the GOP got loopy was by overdoing libertarianism.”

 

Clothing

It is always interesting to see metaphors of clothing in popular English writing. One common way of describing people whose behavior is well outside social norms is to say they are on the fringe of society. There is even a common phrase of the lunatic fringe to describe these people. The term fringe originally meant the decorative hem or border of a piece of clothing. Spatially, normal people are in the middle of the article of clothing, while people with unusual behavior are on the fringe. Similarly, intact clothing is considered normal while clothing with fraying or unraveling threads is considered abnormal. Thus, people can be described as unraveling as if they are threads on an old shirt.

General Armstrong Custer’s buckskin jacket with fringe

fringe

Example: “The old fringes have been folded into the new center. The irrational has become respectable and often unstoppable.”

unravel

Example: “I wonder whether it’s only America’s destiny, exceptional as ever, to unravel in this way.”

 

 

 

Balance and Gravity

As humans, we are well aware of our sense of balance. Otherwise we would not be able to walk or even stand up straight. Thus, it is not surprising that we have conceptual metaphors based on the idea of balance. In Andersen’s article we find the concept applied to both mental and political stability in the United States. He speaks of the balance, seesawing, tipping and the center of gravity.

balance

Example: “For most of our history, the impulses existed in a rough balance, a dynamic equilibrium between fantasy and reality, mania and moderation, credulity and skepticism.”

seesaw

Example: “We still seemed to be in the midst of the normal cyclical seesawing of American politics. In the ’90s, the right achieved two of its wildest dreams: The Soviet Union and international communism collapsed; and, as violent crime radically declined, law and order was restored.”

center of gravity

Example: “The party’s ideological center of gravity swerved way to the right of Rove and all the Bushes, finally knocking them and their clubmates aside. What had been the party’s fantastical fringe became its middle.”

tip

Example: “I really can imagine, for the first time in my life, that America has permanently tipped into irreversible decline, heading deeper into Fantasyland.”

 

Science

Although less common than other metaphors seen here, our experience with science lessons in high school or college allows us to use metaphors of scientific tools or phenomenon.   For example, a crucible is a small porcelain pot used for melting materials in a lab. Metaphorically, a crucible is a social situation in which great changes are happening. In biology, cell walls are not totally closed; rather they are permeable, meaning fluids can pass through the cell membranes. Metaphorically, borders between opposing ideas can also be permeable instead of fixed. In science, substances that are poisonous to plants, animals or humans are considered toxic. We use this same term to describe any event or situation that is harmful to the people involved. Scientists are sometimes engineers who create new inventions or design new projects. Metaphorically, we can speak of people engineering political situations to their advantage. Finally, Andersen includes a wonderful scientific metaphor (grammatically a simile) that compares the Christian dominance of right-wing politicians as the chemical change of phase from liquid to gas!

crucible

Example: “Treating real life as fantasy and vice versa, and taking preposterous ideas seriously, is not unique to Americans. But we are the global crucible and epicenter.”

permeable

Example: “The borders between fiction and nonfiction are permeable, maybe nonexistent. The delusions of the insane, superstitions, and magical thinking? Any of those may be as legitimate as the supposed truths contrived by Western reason and science.”

toxic

Example: “Those earnest beliefs planted more seeds for the extravagant American conspiracy thinking that by the turn of the century would be rampant and seriously toxic.”

engineer

Example: “I doubt the GOP elite deliberately engineered the synergies between the economic and religious sides of their contemporary coalition. But as the incomes of middle- and working-class people flatlined, Republicans pooh-poohed rising economic inequality and insecurity.”

a phase from liquid to gas

Example: “The Christian takeover happened gradually, but then quickly in the end, like a phase change from liquid to gas. In 2008, three-quarters of the major GOP presidential candidates said they believed in evolution, but in 2012 it was down to a third, and then in 2016, just one did.”

 

Buildings

As I have demonstrated many times in this blog, the concept of buildings is used to create very common metaphors in politics. In a very specific metaphor concerning door hinges, a door cannot swing open or closed properly unless it is correctly hinged to the doorframe. Metaphorically, someone who is unhinged is considered crazy as if they are not properly attached to reality. More commonly, the idea of old buildings that are crumbling or need to be torn down is used metaphorically to describe the changing of social ideas or political institutions.

unhinged

Example: “Left-wingers weren’t the only ones who became unhinged. Officials at the FBI, the CIA, and military intelligence agencies, as well as in urban police departments, convinced themselves that peaceful antiwar protesters and campus lefties in general were dangerous militants.”

crumbling

Example: “The distinction between opinion and fact was crumbling on many fronts.”

torn down

Example: “The problem is that Republicans have purposefully torn down the validating institutions,” the political journalist Josh Barro, a Republican until 2016, wrote last year. “They have convinced voters that the media cannot be trusted; they have gotten them used to ignoring inconvenient facts about policy; and they have abolished standards of discourse.”

 

Movement

We also have experience traveling in or driving vehicles such as cars or boats. A boat without power or a rudder will be out of control and drift with the current of a river or ocean. Metaphorically, any gradual movement that does not seem to be controlled may be described as a drift. A car or truck out of control may go off course or careen off the road. Metaphorically, any process that seems to be out of control may be described as careening instead of going in a straight line. A vehicle with a lot of power and zoom along at a high speed, while one that runs out of gas may sputter out and stop moving. Processes observed over a long time may also be described as zooming or sputtering out. Other vehicles with a great deal of mass, such as freight trains, may have trouble stopping after traveling at a high rate of speed because of its momentum.   Metaphorically, a process that seems to have a great deal of success may be described as having unstoppable momentum.

drift

Example: “But our drift toward credulity, toward doing our own thing, toward denying facts and having an altogether uncertain grip on reality, has overwhelmed our other exceptional national traits and turned us into a less developed country.”

careen

Example: “As the Vietnam War escalated and careened, antirationalism flowered.”

zoom, sputter out

Example: “As the pioneer vehicle, the John Birch Society zoomed along and then sputtered out, but its fantastical paradigm and belligerent temperament has endured in other forms and under other brand names.”

unstoppable momentum

Example: “The idea that progress has some kind of unstoppable momentum, as if powered by a Newtonian law, was always a very American belief.”

 

Literary references

In rare cases, we can find metaphors based on famous books or movies. Once in a while, we find people comparing strange behavior to the antics of the characters in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. In that story, Alice transforms herself by looking in a mirror and gets lost by chasing a rabbit down a hole. Metaphorically, passing through the looking glass or going down the rabbit hole are indicative of going into a fantasy instead of staying in reality. In a second example from the book and movie, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy puts her faith in a magical wizard behind a curtain. However, she accidentally finds out that the wizard is simply an ordinary man. Metaphorically, a person who is not who people think he or she is may be described as the Wizard of Oz coming out from behind the curtain.

through the looking glass, down the rabbit hole

Example: “We have passed through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole. America has mutated into Fantasyland.”

Wizard of Oz

Example: “Karl Rove was stone-cold cynical, the Wizard of Oz’s evil twin coming out from behind the curtain for a candid chat shortly before he won a second term for George W. Bush, about how ‘judicious study of discernible reality [is] … not the way the world really works anymore.’”

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As one can see, there is a great variety of metaphors we can use to describe the changing belief systems in people, and how those belief systems influence voting decisions. Kurt Andersen’s excellent article reveals the complexity of our English language usage of both common and unique metaphors. Thanks for reading!

Metaphors of Truthiness, Part 1

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, , , , , , , , ,

Back in 2005, the comedian Stephen Colbert coined a new word, truthiness, meaning the truth of something that people feel in their gut instead of their mind. At the time, he was in the character of his alter ego, a conservative politician, who was parodying some of the comments of the Bush administration. However, the word has caught on, and now it has been used in a wide variety of situations in which people seem to have their own versions of the truth, much to the consternation of politicians and journalists. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the late senator from New York, famously said, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.”

In a brilliant article in the latest issue of The Atlantic magazine entitled “How American Lost its Mind” (September, 2017, pp. 76-91), Kurt Andersen details the growth of what he calls Fantasyland, the phenomenon of people all across America believing in statements and events that have very little basis in reality. Not surprisingly, he points to many half-truths spoken by Donald Trump (he cites one study which claims that Trump’s statements were found to be lies 50% of the time), or the “alternative facts” of his spokesperson Kellyanne Conway. However, it is not only those on the right who are guilty of living in Fantasyland. He notes people on the far left also believe in 9/11 conspiracy theories, that extraterrestrials have visited the earth, and that vaccines cause autism, despite a lack of evidence that any of these claims are true. In fact, Andersen provides a lengthy history of this phenomenon that includes Americans from all walks of life, tracing it all the way back to the Esalen Institute and counterculture movements of the 1960s, the Watergate conspiracy theories of the 1970s, the Reagan era, Clinton foibles, and the latest Trump political machinations.

As a linguist, I am fascinated by this phenomenon for two reasons. For one, linguists are normally concerned with the rhetoric or metaphors of political speeches designed to persuade an audience to agree with or vote for that speaker. However, in the case of Andersen’s Fantasyland, it is interesting to think of what the listeners are understanding rather than what the speaker is saying. Normally, we do not have the privilege of knowing what is truly going on in the minds of voters. The details that Andersen provides in his article shed light on the mind-sets of many Americans. Secondly, I am also fascinated by the metaphors used to describe this phenomenon. It is well known that we use a wide variety of metaphors to describe people who are allegedly crazy such as being batty, loopy, a few cards short of a deck, etc. However, I was amazed to see how many different metaphors Andersen used to describe other aspects of this truthiness phenomenon including conceptual metaphors from animals, nature, humans, family, farming, cooking, science, balance, vision, clothing, objects, movement, buildings, and literary references.

Today I include several examples from each type of metaphor. However, since I found such an incredible variety of metaphors, I will have to split this blog post into two parts. I will provide the second part of the post in about a week. As usual, the quotations are taken directly from the article. Some quotes are repeated in different categories if they have two or more types of metaphors. Italics are mine.

Animals and Arachnids

It is very common to create metaphors based on our common experience with animals, insects and arachnids. Andersen uses some colorful metaphors to describe various aspects of the phenomenon of people holding unusual beliefs. In one case, he describes some of these people as being batty, a metaphor perhaps based on the erratic flying motion of bats or the correlated metaphor of having bats in your belfry. He also describes certain groups working together as being a spider web of people or other groups of people as rabble, a Middle English word meaning a pack of wild animals. Anderson quotes Donald Trump reviving an old myth that Bill and Hillary Clinton had something to do with the apparent suicide of their colleague Vince Foster, calling it fishy. Finally, he describes the situation of Americans experiencing this Fantasyland phenomenon as being canaries in a coal mine since canaries were used in coalmines to detect poisonous gases. If they suddenly died, it was a warning to the mineworkers to get out of the mine as fast as possible.

batty

Example: “The Reagan presidency was famously a triumph of truthiness and entertainment, and in the 1990s, as problematically batty beliefs kept going mainstream, presidential politics continued merging with the fantasy-industrial complex.”

web

Example: “Within a few decades, the belief that a web of villainous elites was covertly seeking to impose a malevolent global regime made its way from the lunatic right to the mainstream.”

rabble rouser

Example: “But over the past few decades, a lot of the rabble they roused came to believe all the untruths.”

fishy

Example: “He revived the 1993 fantasy about the Clintons’ friend Vince Foster—his death, Trump said, was ‘very fishy,’…”

canary in a coal mine

Example: “I wonder whether it’s only America’s destiny, exceptional as ever, to unravel in this way. Or maybe we’re just early adopters, the canaries in the global mine, and Canada and Denmark and Japan and China and all the rest will eventually follow us down our tunnel.”

 

Nature

Other aspects of nature are also commonly used to create conceptual metaphors. Andersen’s article contains quite a few of these as well. A common metaphor from nature is to call a new social trend as a grassroots movement, as if the people are growing like grass in one’s yard. Roots of trees are also used metaphorically to indicate the origins of certain phenomena. In this case, Andersen talks about the taproots of certain kinds of prejudice in America. Another common nature metaphor is to talk about a trend as if it is a person sliding down a hill or a slippery slope. There are also quite a few examples of river metaphors: popular media is referred to as mainstream, as if it is flowing in the middle of a river; social trends may flow out from a source; there might be tidal surges of new social constructs knocking down the flood walls, while there may be efforts to slow the flood or repair the levees to stop the damage, and there may be a cascade of false beliefs creating a pool in which people surf and swim. Finally, there is a nice contrastive pair of metaphors, comparing the darkness of winter to the light of spring and hope for a better future.

grassroots movement

Example: “We must call out the dangerously untrue and unreal. A grassroots movement against one kind of cultural squishiness has taken off and lately reshaped our national politics—the opposition to political correctness. I envision a comparable struggle that insists on distinguishing between the factually true and the blatantly false.”

taproot

Example: “Trump launched his political career by embracing a brand-new conspiracy theory twisted around two American taproots—fear and loathing of foreigners and of nonwhites.”

slippery slopes

Example: “There are many slippery slopes, leading in various directions to other exciting nonsense. During the past several decades, those naturally slippery slopes have been turned into a colossal and permanent complex of interconnected, crisscrossing bobsled tracks, which Donald Trump slid down right into the White House.”

mainstream

Example: “The word mainstream has recently become a pejorative, shorthand for bias, lies, oppression by the elites.”

flow out

Example: “Conservatives are correct that the anything-goes relativism of college campuses wasn’t sequestered there, but when it flowed out across America it helped enable extreme Christianities and lunacies on the right—gun-rights hysteria, black-helicopter conspiracism, climate-change denial, and more.”

tidal surge, flood walls

In this case, Andersen is describing the work of Charles Reich, a 1970 book on counterculture called The Greening of America.

Example: “His wishful error was believing that once the tidal surge of new sensibility brought down the flood walls, the waters would flow in only one direction, carving out a peaceful, cooperative, groovy new continental utopia, hearts and minds changed like his, all of America Berkeleyized and Vermontified.”

slow the flood, repair the levees

Example: “But I think we can slow the flood, repair the levees, and maybe stop things from getting any worse.”

cascade, surf, swim

Example: “False beliefs were rendered both more real-seeming and more contagious, creating a kind of fantasy cascade in which millions of bedoozled Americans surfed and swam.”

winter, light

Example: “Even as we’ve entered this long winter of foolishness and darkness, when too many Americans are losing their grip on reason and reality, it has been an epoch of astonishing hope and light as well.”

 

Farming

I found it fascinating that Andersen often describes the growth of different belief systems as if they were crops growing on a farm. He claims that the beliefs were like seeds that flowered or sprouted into new social movements. He describes a case for the Esalen Institute, a pioneering New Age center in California in the 1960s, as a hotbed of ideas, as if they were plants growing in a greenhouse. In a common fruit metaphor, he describes some conservatives as cherry-picking libertarian policies to suit their needs, as if these policies were ripe cherries. Finally, Andersen claims that some of Donald Trump’s ideas are hogwash, named for the leftover food scraps given to hogs on the farm.

seeds

Example: “Those earnest beliefs planted more seeds for the extravagant American conspiracy thinking that by the turn of the century would be rampant and seriously toxic.”

flower

Example: “As the Vietnam War escalated and careened, antirationalism flowered.”

sprout

Example: “Conspiracy theories were more of a modern right-wing habit before people on the left signed on. However, the belief that the federal government had secret plans to open detention camps for dissidents sprouted in the ’70s on the paranoid left before it became a fixture on the right.”

hotbed

Example: “Esalen’s founders were big Laing fans, and the institute became a hotbed for the idea that insanity was just an alternative way of perceiving reality.”

cherry-pick

Example: “Republicans are very selective, cherry-picking libertarians: Let business do whatever it wants and don’t spoil poor people with government handouts; let individuals have gun arsenals but not abortions or recreational drugs or marriage with whomever they wish; and don’t mention Ayn Rand’s atheism.”

hogwash

Example: “During the campaign, Trump repeated the falsehood that vaccines cause autism. And instead of undergoing a normal medical exam from a normal doctor and making the results public, like nominees had before, Trump went on The Dr. Oz Show and handed the host test results from his wacky doctor. Did his voters know that his hogwash was hogwash?”

 

Cooking

Perhaps correlating with the farm metaphors are a few examples of cooking metaphors. In a common way to describe an unreasonable idea or person, Andersen describes them as being half-baked, as if it is a loaf of bread not quite ready to come out of the oven.   He also provides a wonderful metaphor based on a cup of tea – steeping the tea bag in water, letting the smells and vapors permeate the room.

half-baked

Example: “That is, they inspired half-baked and perverse followers in the academy, whose arguments filtered out into the world at large: All approximations of truth, science as much as any fable or religion, are mere stories devised to serve people’s needs or interests.”

steep, vapors

Example: “The right has had three generations to steep in this, its taboo vapors wafting more and more into the main chambers of conservatism, becoming familiar, seeming less outlandish.”

 

Human Body

Not surprisingly, we commonly create metaphors based on our own human experiences. In one unusual metaphor, we talk of a crazy person as a crackpot, referring back to an old slang term for the head as a pot. Another common way to describe crazy behavior as someone who is losing grip on reality as if it is an object that can be grasped with the hands. Andersen also compares Trump’s need for attention to a person who is ravenous and insatiable for food. I also noticed two metaphors of illness and cancer. Andersen quotes Rick Perry claiming that Donald Trump was a “cancer on conservatism” while he also notes that the American acceptance of Fantasyland has metastasized as if it is a cancer that will spread to other countries.

crackpot

Example: “Belief in gigantic conspiracies has moved from the crackpot periphery to the mainstream.”

grip on reality

Example: “Even as we’ve entered this long winter of foolishness and darkness, when too many Americans are losing their grip on reason and reality, it has been an epoch of astonishing hope and light as well.”

ravenous and insatiable

Example: “But Trump’s need for any and all public attention always seemed to me more ravenous and insatiable than any other public figure’s, akin to an addict’s for drugs.”

cancer on conservatism

Example: “Before Trump won their nomination and the presidency, when he was still ‘a cancer on conservatism’ that must be “discarded” (former Governor Rick Perry) and an ‘utterly amoral’ ‘narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen’ (Senator Ted Cruz), Republicans hated Trump’s ideological incoherence—they didn’t yet understand that his campaign logic was a new kind, blending exciting tales with a showmanship that transcends ideology.”

metastasized

Example: “The American experiment has metastasized out of control. Being American now means we can believe anything we want.”

 

Family

I also found examples of metaphors based on family relations. Andersen describes Esalen as a mother church in the United States as if it had given birth to a new type of religion. He also provides another brilliant contrastive pair of metaphors, describes incredulity and skepticism as fraternal twins.

mother church

Example: “Esalen is a mother church of a new American religion for people who think they don’t like churches or religions but who still want to believe in the supernatural.”

fraternal twin

Example: “Trump’s genius was to exploit the skeptical disillusion with politics—there’s too much equivocating; democracy’s a charade—but also to pander to Americans’ magical thinking about national greatness. Extreme credulity is a fraternal twin of extreme skepticism.”

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That’s all for Part 1.  Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!

Health Care Metaphors

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello! Anyone watching TV or reading the newspapers lately has no doubt seen the huge battle going on in Washington D.C. over healthcare. Barack Obama and the Democrats managed to pass the Affordable Care Act during his tenure as president. The Republicans promised for seven years to “repeal and replace” the so-called Obamacare as soon as they were in the office. Now, however, even though the Republicans control the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, they have not been able to pass any new legislation to replace Obamacare. Several different versions of a new health care bill have been presented but they have all been defeated by either the House or the Senate. This past week, the latest version was voted down, in part because of three Republicans who voted against it, including a dramatic “thumbs down” vote by John McCain at the last minute.

Readers of this blog may have also noticed that there has been a bewildering variety of metaphors used to describe this process. Here are a few that I have been watching in the past few weeks. I list them here by conceptual metaphor with one or two examples of each. The sources for each quotation are included in the descriptions and explanations as a hyperlink. Italics are mine.

Body Shape: skinny

One of the most unusual metaphors to describe the latest health care bill was calling it the skinny repeal version, implying that it was a thin version of an earlier more comprehensive bill. We tend to describe people (or animals) as being skinny, normal or fat (more politely heavy) thus we can metaphorically use descriptions of body shapes to describe the thickness of a legislative document. Here is a headline from the New York Post.

Example:  Trump fumes over health care reform after ‘skinny repeal’ defeat

Food: vinegar and honey

We often use our experiences with food to describe abstract processes, such as something being bitter or sweet. Some writers at the Daily Beast have described the Republican healthcare bill as being all vinegar, no honey since it seemed to be taking health care away from millions of people while increasing premiums on those who do have insurance – nothing sweet about it, only a sour taste.

 

 

Example: How Donald Trump’s “All Vinegar, No Honey” Approach To Health Care Reform Ended Up Backfiring

Journey: rocky start, bridge

Journey metaphors are very common in political speeches, and they also appear in headlines and articles about political processes. In one case, a headline in the Washington Examiner describes health care reform as being off to a rocky start, as if it is a person walking on an uneven rocky path instead of a smooth walkway. In another example from Fox Business News, Senator Ted Cruz argued that he could bridge the gap between warring factions of the Republican Party as if he could making a connecting bridge between two distant parts of a road.

Example: Bipartisan healthcare reform off to a rocky start in the Senate

Example: Ted Cruz: Amendment can bridge gap between split Republican Party

 

 

 

Building: collapse, fall apart

            We often describe creating processes as if they are buildings we are constructing. Conversely, when processes do not work, we can describe them as if these buildings are collapsing or falling apart. Recent headlines at politico.com and cnn.com refer to these two processes.

Example: House Republicans despair after health care collapse

Example: How the Republican health care bill fell apart

Machines and Engines: fix, overhaul, backfire

When a machine is not working properly, we must make efforts to fix it. Metaphorically, we can also fix any process that is not working out well. Political writers and pundits commonly refer to legislative processes as fixing health care. Here is one example from the Atlantic magazine. Also, if a machine or engine is broken beyond a simple repair, we may need to totally overhaul it, taking it all apart and putting it back together again. An article at cnn.com refers to the Republican efforts to replace Obamacare as overhauling it.   Finally, when the gas mixture in an engine is not regulated correctly, it may backfire or produce a loud bang from the exhaust system. Metaphorically, when an effort to do something completely fails, we may say that it backfires. An article in the Daily Beast describes Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare as having backfired.

Example: How Republicans Can Fix American Health Care

Example: “We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy,” Moran said in a bold statement that derailed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s bid to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.

Example: How Donald Trump’s “All Vinegar, No Honey” Approach To Health Care Reform Ended Up Backfiring

Chemistry and Physics: litmus test, pressure

In chemistry, one way to test whether an element is an acid or a base is to put a small solution on a piece of special paper called litmus paper. This procedure is called a litmus test. Metaphorically, any process that determines if something will be successful may be called a litmus test. A recent NBC News story describes the efforts of the Democrats to retain Obamacare as federal law as a litmus test. In physics, the amount of force exerted upon an object is called pressure. We can talk of air pressure, barometric pressure, etc. Metaphorically, the power for a group of people to influence other people can also be called pressure. The Press Herald newspaper in Maine describes how the Maine senator, Susan Collins, withstood the pressure of her fellow Republicans to vote against the health care bill.

Example: Government-Run Health Care: Democrats’ New Litmus Test

Example: Susan Collins withstood intense pressure, ultimately voted against health care repeal

Boxing: round one, slam

Sadly, we also describe many aspects of the political process as if the politicians are fighting each other in a boxing ring. Most boxing matches last a total of 15 rounds. The preliminary battles between two opponents are often called round one. An article at cnn.com describes the defeat of the health care bill as a loss for Donald Trump in round one. Several weeks ago, an article in USA Today even described the diplomatic Bernie Sanders as slamming the Republican version of the health care bill.

Example: Health care defeat confirmed it: Trump has lost round one

Example: Bernie Sanders slams GOP health care bill, calls Trump CNN tweet ‘an outrage’

 

Military: kill, dead, blast, implode, torpedo

Even more violent metaphors can be found in military descriptions of political processes. An article at msnbc.com described how the health care bill was killed, while in an article in the New York Post, the authors describe the health care repeal process as a dead issue.   Other writers describe the process in terms of explosions or cannon fire. CNN describes President Trump as blasting the Senate rules that contributed to the defeat of the Republican bill, while a story at politico.com reports that Trump himself claims he wanted Obamacare to implode. Finally, another CNN story claims that the Senate has torpedoed the heath care bill.

Example: The stunning drama of killing the GOP health care bill

Example: President Trump hasn’t given up on health care reform — even though the Senate’s GOP leader say [sic] it’s a dead issue for now.

Example: Trump blasts Senate rules in Saturday morning tweets

Example: After health care loss, Trump tweets ‘let ObamaCare implode’

 

Example: House Republicans rail on Senate GOP for torpedoing health care

Science Fiction: the twilight zone

Last but not least, we find a metaphor derived from the name of a popular 1960s TV show called the Twilight Zone. In the TV show, the title referred to the time between day and night when normal rules of science are twisted into bizarre or unexpected occurrences. The term was originally was used as early as 1909 to describe the time between lightness and darkness when nothing could be seen clearly. Metaphorically the twilight zone refers to a situation in which normal social rules do no apply. Several articles reported that Missouri senator Claire McCaskill referred to the healthcare reform process as being in the twilight zone.

Example: “We’re in the twilight zone of legislating,” Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said Thursday of the GOP’s strategy.

*******

As you can see, one political process may be described with a wide variety of conceptual metaphors. These examples offer more proof that the use of metaphors is a normal part of human cognition, not a specialized type of language. As always, comments, questions or additional examples are welcome. Thanks for reading!

 

 

President Trump’s 1st Address to Congress

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, , , , , , ,

This past week, Donald Trump made his first address to Congress as president of the United States. In contrast to his negative inauguration speech about “American carnage,” this speech was more positive and hopeful. You can read the transcript of the speech here.

Trump supporters were very pleased with the speech and claimed he was very “presidential.” Critics of Donald Trump were quick to point out many factual errors in his speech and were not very impressed. The Washington Post found errors on many different issues including immigration rates, defense spending, crime rates, welfare statistics and unemployment rates. You can read the summary here.

 

Regardless of the controversies surrounding the speech, I found that the frequency and type of metaphors also differed significantly compared to the inauguration speech. It has taken me a week to sort through all the different examples of metaphors in this long speech. Although there were many negative metaphors involving physical forces, there were also positive metaphors of vision and journeys looking forward as one might expect in an address to Congress. Here are a few interesting examples. As always, the quotations are taken directly from the transcript. I have added italics to mark the metaphors under analysis. In some cases, quotations are repeated if they contain more than one type of metaphor.

Building

            This speech presents an interesting contrast between using some metaphors in a negative manner, while using others in the same category in a positive manner. President Trump describes various aspects of the country as if they are buildings that are crumbling, collapsing or imploding. However, he also talks about building for the future.

crumbling

Example: “And we’ve spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas, while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled.”

Example: “Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our very, very beautiful land.“

collapsing

Example: “Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits. As an example, Arizona went up 116 percent last year alone. Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky just said Obamacare is failing in his state — the state of Kentucky — and it’s unsustainable and collapsing.”

Example: “Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor and keep your plan? We now know that all of those promises have been totally broken.   Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans. (Applause.)”

imploding

Example: “Action is not a choice, it is a necessity. So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster. (Applause.)”

building

Example: “We must build bridges of cooperation and trust — not drive the wedge of disunity and, really, it’s what it is, division. It’s pure, unadulterated division. We have to unify.”

Example: “I am sending Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the defense sequester — (applause) — and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.”

Example: “The only long-term solution for these humanitarian disasters, in many cases, is to create the conditions where displaced persons can safely return home and begin the long, long process of rebuilding. (Applause.)”

Example: “We’ve financed and built one global project after another, but ignored the fates of our children in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, and so many other places throughout our land.” 

Machines and Tools

Similarly, Trump’s speech contrasts what can be broken and what can be fixed as if the United States is a machine. He also offers to provide the proper tools to the U.S. military to prevent war.

broken, fixed

Example: “Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved. And every hurting family can find healing and hope.”

tools

Example: “Finally, to keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war — if they must — they have to fight and they only have to win.”

Physical Forces

            The Trump speech also contains a large set of metaphors in a category of what I called physical forces, i.e., using a physical action to describe an abstract process. Donald Trump uses many of these metaphors to describe the state of the country, in some cases, in ways similar to his ideas of “American carnage.” We find that the middle class is shrinking, and we have job-crushing government regulations while he desires to demolish, destroy and extinguish ISIS. He also claims that drugs are pouring into the country. In contrast, he also uses metaphors of physical forces to describe positive efforts. He describes a desire to expand treatment for drug users, while national pride is sweeping the country and optimism is surging in the United States.

shrink

Example: “For too long, we’ve watched our middle class shrink as we’ve exported our jobs and wealth to foreign countries.”

crush

Example: “We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job-crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every government agency.”

demolish, destroy and extinguish

Example: “As promised, I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS — a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, and women, and children of all faiths and all beliefs. We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet. (Applause.)”

pour in, expand

Example: “We’ve defended the borders of other nations while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to cross and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate.”

Example: “We will stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth, and we will expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted. (Applause.)”

sweep, surge

Example: “A new national pride is sweeping across our nation. And a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp.”

Binding objects

Similarly, we find examples of a specific type of physical forces dealing with using force to bind two objects together. Again, these metaphors can be used with either positive or negative connotations. He spoke movingly of a young woman named Megan who suffers from a rare disease and whose father had to fight the government to approve new drugs to help her. Thus, Donald Trump speaks of FDA regulations are restraints that need to be slashed, while the girl had the unbounded love of her father. He also said that we should not be bound by the failures of the past but have an unbroken chain of truth, liberty and justice in America.

restraints

Example: “If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA but across our government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles just like Megan. (Applause.) In fact, our children will grow up in a nation of miracles.”

unbounded

Example: “Megan’s story is about the unbounded power of a father’s love for a daughter. But our slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan’s life, from reaching those in need.”

bound

Example: “From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears; inspired by the future, not bound by the failures of the past; and guided by our vision, not blinded by our doubts.”


unbroken chain

Example: “Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty and justice in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present.”

Fragile Objects

            Processes can be described metaphorically as if they are fragile objects. Trump uses some of these metaphors to describe various aspects of government policies and processes. He claims that President Obama broke many of his promises about the Affordable Care Act, while we must break the cycles of poverty and violence. He also claims that we have an unbreakable alliance with Israel.

break promises

Example: “Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor and keep your plan? We now know that all of those promises have been totally broken.   Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans. (Applause.)”

break the cycle

Example: “But to break the cycle of poverty, we must also break the cycle of violence.”

unbreakable

Example: “I have also imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran’s ballistic missile program, and reaffirmed our unbreakable alliance with the State of Israel. (Applause.)”

Nature and Natural Disasters

            Metaphors of nature are very common in political speeches. I have already analyzed Donald Trump’s frequent claim of draining the swamp, meaning the process of removing corrupt officials from government. He uses the metaphor again here. However, he also uses more powerful metaphors of natural disasters comparing the tremendous rise in his popularity during the election campaign to an earthquake, even describing the earth shifting beneath our feet. In one case, he has an odd mixing of metaphors saying that the chorus became an earthquake.

drain the swamp

Example: “We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five-year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials and a lifetime ban — (applause) — thank you — and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government.”

earth shifting

Example: “Then, in 2016, the Earth shifted beneath our feet. The rebellion started as a quiet protest, spoken by families of all colors and creeds — families who just wanted a fair shot for their children and a fair hearing for their concerns.”

earthquake

Example: “Finally, the chorus became an earthquake, and the people turned out by the tens of millions, and they were all united by one very simple, but crucial demand: that America must put its own citizens first.”

Military

Along with the large sets of conceptual metaphors described above, the speech contains a nice variety of unusual metaphors that occur only once. We find there are metaphors of the military, animals, light, literature and sports. In one military metaphor we find the example of a beachhead which is the area on a shore where an invading force lands in order to bring troops and supplies. Metaphorically a beachhead is the first step of progress in a complex operation. Here Trump compares the growth of ISIS to a beachhead of terrorism.

beachhead

Example: “We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America. We cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists. (Applause.)”

Animals

Animals have great strength and are often used as sources of metaphors. In one case, Trump compares the dying American manufacturing companies as lions that will come roaring back to life.

roar

Example: “Dying industries will come roaring back to life.”

 

 

 

Light

            Metaphors of light are often used in political speeches. Trump claims that his new government policies will light up the world. 

torch, light up

Example: “That torch is now in our hands. And we will use it to light up the world.”

Literature

            Politicians often claim that their policies will begin a new chapter of life as if American history is a book that is being written and they are the authors.

chapter

Example: “I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart. A new chapter — (applause) — of American Greatness is now beginning.”

Sports

There is also a wide variety of sports metaphors used in political speeches. Strangely, I have not seen many of these yet in Trump’s speeches. However, there is one unusual metaphor used here describing tax codes for the middle class as being on a level playing field with corporations. As described in a previous post, the idea of a level playing field is derived from the problem in the early 20th century of creating level footballs fields so one team would not have the advantage of being able to run downhill and possibly score more points. Strange but true!

level playing field

Example: “At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class. We must create a level playing field for American companies and our workers.”

Synecdoche

I also found a very strange and unusual example of synecdoche, the type of figurative language in which a part represents a whole. In this case, Trump speaks of “two world wars that dethroned fascism.” This is complex for two reasons. For one, the idea of dethroning a government implies that the throne represents the government because the leader sits on the throne to rule the country, a classic example of synecdoche. However, there is also an element of personification in that fascism is described as being a person, i.e., the leader that sits on the throne. It’s amazing that we can understand this type of figurative language!

dethrone

Example: “We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two world wars that dethroned fascism, and a Cold War, and defeated communism. (Applause.)”

Personification

Speaking of personification, I found many examples of these types of metaphors. Trump compares cities to babies being born or having a rebirth, while America is strong, and we need to strengthen national security. We also find that countries are described as either friends or enemies.

rebirth

Example: “And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety and opportunity. Above all else, we will keep our promises to the American people. (Applause.)”

strong, strengthen

Example: “All the nations of the world — friend or foe — will find that America is strong, America is proud, and America is free.”

Example: “I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: To improve jobs and wages for Americans; to strengthen our nation’s security; and to restore respect for our laws.”

friends and enemies

Example: “All the nations of the world — friend or foe — will find that America is strong, America is proud, and America is free.”

Example: “America is friends today with former enemies. Some of our closest allies, decades ago, fought on the opposite side of these terrible, terrible wars. This history should give us all faith in the possibilities for a better world.”

Vision

The final two sets of metaphors are very common in political speeches in which the speaker tries to convince his or her listeners that the country is moving forward with a strong vision and everyone in the country is on the same journey together.  Although these types of metaphors were absent in previous Trump speeches, they make their appearance here, perhaps initiating a newly positive direction for his speeches. In terms of vision metaphors, we find that Trump wants to focus on specific goals for the country with a collective vision for the future. In a nice contrast of light and dark, Trump contends that we need to be guided by our vision, not blinded by our doubts.

focus

Example: “I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: To improve jobs and wages for Americans; to strengthen our nation’s security; and to restore respect for our laws.”

vision

Example: “When we have all of this, we will have made America greater than ever before — for all Americans. This is our vision. This is our mission.”

Example: “When we fulfill this vision, when we celebrate our 250 years of glorious freedom, we will look back on tonight as when this new chapter of American Greatness began.”

guided, not blinded

Example: “From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears; inspired by the future, not bound by the failures of the past; and guided by our vision, not blinded by our doubts.”

Journeys

Finally, we find many examples of journey metaphors as Trump speaks of finding the right vehicle, following the correct path, clearing the way of obstacles, restarting the engine of the economy or reaching milestones in our journey to become a better nation.

vehicle, path

Example: “Free nations are the best vehicle for expressing the will of the people, and America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path.”

Example: “Tonight, as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our nation’s path towards civil rights and the work that still remains to be done.”

clear the way

Example: “We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines — (applause) — thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs.”

restart the engine

Example: “But to accomplish our goals at home and abroad, we must restart the engine of the American economy — making it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much, much harder for companies to leave our country. (Applause.)”

milestones

Example: “It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world. But what will America look like as we reach our 250th year? What kind of country will we leave for our children?”

*******

            As one can see, President Trump’s first address to Congress contains a wide variety of metaphors. Although there are many examples of metaphors with negative connotations as in previous speeches, for the first time here we see some metaphors that are more positive and look to the future. Time will tell if President Trump can achieve all of the goals he laid out in this speech. Stay tuned for more analyses of Trump speeches… As always, comments and questions are welcome!

 

Trump’s Inaugural Address

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, Rhetoric, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States this past weekend.   He delivered a short 16-minute speech. It was not the normal inaugural address. Most new presidents make efforts to unite the country and outline the goals of their term.   These addresses also normally include some soaring rhetoric rich in metaphors to try to inspire the American public to follow the president’s new agenda. This address was surprisingly negative in tone. I looked back at Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention in July of 2016. That speech was much longer and was more positive in tone. This speech was apparently written largely by two of Trumps closest advisors, Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, who are known for their conservative approaches to politics. Most journalists were surprised and confused at how negative the speech was. George Lakoff published a very unflattering summary of the speech and Donald Trump’s politics on his blog at georgelakoff.com.  You can read the transcript of the speech here.

In any case, the speech is very interesting in its rhetorical style and the limited numbers of metaphors that were used. First, allow me to summarize some of the rhetorical strategies used in the speech. The speechwriters included a dystopian background, hyperbolic descriptions and deliberate repetition. As always, the examples below are taken directly from the speech. Some quotes are repeated if they contain more than one examples of a rhetorical style or a metaphor. Italics are mine.

RHETORIC

Hyperbole

Trump provides a very grim description of the United States, and uses words and phrases normally associated with violence, crime and death. He talks about people being trapped like animals, empty factories looking like tombstones, with gangs and drugs stealing lives and robbing people of their potential. Meanwhile, our infrastructure fallen into decay, and the wealth of the middle class is ripped from their homes. He also describes other countries as ravaging our borders, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.

Example: “But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.”

An abandoned factory outside Duluth, Minnesota

Example: “… America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.”

Example: “The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.”

Example: “We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs.”

Dystopia

Needless to say, these types of hyperbolic descriptions do not paint a picture of a successful society. Rather, these terms describe a dystopian society on the road to ruin. In the middle of these descriptions, Trump summarized the society as “American carnage.” The term carnage is an especially violent connotation. The word is derived from the Latin word for flesh or meat. The word carnage literally means the slaughter of animals, and is most commonly used to describe a scene of many people being killed such as soldiers on a battlefield, or victims of a bombing. George Lakoff provides even more details about this term in his recent blog post. Nonetheless, Trump tries to explain how he can stop the carnage and provide a “glorious destiny” for all Americans.

The carnage after the Battle of Gettysburg

Example: “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. We are one nation — and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.”

Repetition

President Trump uses repetition of words and phrases very effectively to emphasize some of his main points. He claims that Americas have one heart, one home and one destiny. In his line about American carnage, instead of saying “the carnage stops right here and now” he repeats the word stop for effect. In another example, instead of saying he will bring back our jobs, borders, wealth and our dreams, he repeats the phrase bring back. Finally, to finish the speech with a bang, he repeats the phrase “We will make America _________ again” filling in the blank with many different adjectives describing the new country he hopes to create.

Example: “We are one nation — and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.”

Example: “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

Example: “We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.”

Example: “Together, We will make America strong again.

We will make America wealthy again.

We will make America proud again.

We will make America safe again.

And yes, together, we will make America great again. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.”

METAPHORS

In addition to these rhetorical strategies, President Trump uses a few metaphorical expressions to explain some of his goals for the country.

Personification

As mentioned many times in my blog posts, it is very common for politicians to describe the United States as a person, as if the country is one person, or if all the American citizens collectively are one person. Other countries act as a single person as well. So other countries are described as stealing our companies and destroying our jobs. At the same time, the United States will face challenges and confront hardships. Trump also claims that we share one heart and one home, and we will seek friendships with other countries.   In the end, America will be strong again.

stealing, destroying

Example: “We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.”

face, confront

Example: “Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.

We will face challenges. We will confront hardships.”

heart, home

Example: “We are one nation — and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.”

friendship

Example: “We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world — but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.”

strong

Example: “Together, We will make America strong again.”

Taking

Following the logic of the personification metaphors, if a country steals something from the United States, the obvious question is if we can get it back. In a previous post on Donald Trump’s Streetball Rhetoric, I found that Trump sometimes thinks of politics as a street basketball game. In some cases, the person who brought the basketball to the game goes home and takes the ball with him. In those cases, the remaining players are hoping that the person can bring the ball back so they can continue the game. Similarly, Trump claims he can bring back what was taken from us, such as bringing back our jobs, our borders, our wealth and our dreams.

bring back

Example: “We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.”

Death

I do not believe I have ever had to explain a metaphor of death. In a strangely dark simile, Donald Trump compares abandoned factories to tombstones.

tombstones

Example: “But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation…”

Building

I have also mentioned many times that politicians use metaphors of building a new America. However, I could only find one example of this type of metaphor in Trump’s speech. In this example, we find a serendipitous pairing of the literal meaning of building with the metaphorical building. Enjoy!

rebuilding

Example: “We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work — rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.”

Vision

Politicians also talk about having a vision for the future when they give important speeches.   I could only find two brief examples of these vision metaphors, looking to the future and having a new vision to govern the country.

looking

Example: “But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future. We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.”

vision

Example: “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.”

Sailing

Metaphors of sailing boats or ships are very colorful and powerful in a political speech. They have a sense of grandeur, great movement, and global implications. Trump uses two clever examples of sailing metaphors including saying that our factories have left our shores and our confidence has disappeared over the horizon as if they were large ships that recently set sail around the world. Instead, he wants to determine the course of America as if he is starting on a new sailing journey.

our shores

Example: “One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.”

Sunset Evening Cancun

horizon

Example: “We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.”

 

 

course

Example: “Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.”

Journey

Finally, another of the most powerful political metaphors are journey metaphors. These metaphors also connote movement, power and progress. Strangely, there were not many examples of these metaphors, only one negative example and one positive example. Trump contends that many American workers have been left behind, as if the country has gone on a journey without them. And yet, he also maintains that America is unstoppable as if it is a powerful train.

left behind

Example: “One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.”

unstoppable

Example: “When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.”

*******

It is difficult to judge the rhetorical and metaphorical power of a speech that only lasted 16 minutes. Clearly, President Trump is going to speak and act completely differently than any previous president. I am looking forward to more detailed speeches from Donald Trump where we can learn more of his policies and vision for the future and, if the United States is truly in a dystopian condition, he can lead us to a brighter future.

 

A Seismic Election – Trump Wins!

Figurative Language, Media, Metaphors, Politics, , , , , , , , ,

This past week, Donald Trump won the 2016 election, much to the surprise of most of the country. In fact, the result was so unexpected that most television, radio and print media reporters described it as a shock, a tsunami, an earthquake or a seismic election. It is not surprising that elections are described in terms of natural disasters. I have written about some of these examples in a previous post. This time, the usage is a bit different.

When one candidate wins the election by a large margin, we sometimes say that he or she won in a landslide, as if the election results came down a mountain after a heavy rain. However, in the most recent election, the margin of victory was very slim. In fact, it seems that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump won the electoral vote – a slim margin indeed. Since everyone was surprised that Donald Trump won the election, there were other examples of natural disasters to describe the unexpected results. Here are a few examples (italics are mine). The source of each quotation is provided below each example.

blog-trump-tsunami-wavetsunami

A tsunami is a huge ocean wave that devastates coastal communities as happened in Indonesia in 2004 and in Japan in 2011. Metaphorically, the word tsunami is used similarly to the term flood indicating a large amount of something happening quickly.

Example: Headline: The Pollster Who Foretold the Trump Tsunami : Robert Cahaly, derided by Nate Silver as a C-rate pollster, gets the last laugh on 2016 (http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/pollster-foretold-trump-tsunami/)

 

tremors/earthquakes

Earthquakes are caused by shifts in the earth’s crust or continental plates. Tremors are smaller quakes that happen before or after a major earthquake. Metaphorically, earthquakes and tremors can describe important events that happen in an organization that change the normal course of activities.

Example: Headline: ‘A complete earthquake’: Joe Scarborough reacts to Trump winning the presidency (http://www.businessinsider.com/joe-scarborough-donald-trump-2016-11) 

shock

The word shock has several different meanings. One can experience shock from an electrical outlet or a violent impact in a collision. There can also be shocks or aftershocks after an earthquake. There were many people who were shocked by the Trump victory this week.

Example: Headline: Donald Trump’s Victory Is Met With Shock Across a Wide Political Divide (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/us/politics/donald-trump-election-reaction.html?_r=0)

blog-trump-earthquake

seismic

The word seismic describes the level of movement in the earth’s crust during an earthquake. Metaphorically, any event that has deep and widespread effects on people or organizations may also be described as seismic. 

Example: Headline: Trump maps out a new administration to bring a seismic shift to Washington (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-maps-out-a-new-administration-to-bring-a-seismic-shift-to-washington/2016/11/09/8bb6629e-a6a6-11e6-8fc0-7be8f848c492_story.html)

blog-trump-eruptionerupt/eruption

When a volcano explodes, this is called an eruption. In common terms, anything that happens quickly without notice may be called an eruption.

Example: The eruption of shock, outrage, and action post-election is yet another parallel to Brexit. (https://thinkprogress.org/anti-trump-protests-sweep-the-nation-65b7b836457c#.thzsvjy9e)

flood

When a river overflows its banks, the surrounding countryside, towns, and cities can be flooded with water. As a metaphor, the concept of flooding is used to describe a large amount of something that covers a wide area.

Example: Headline: Thousands of outraged protesters flood streets across America to oppose President-elect Donald Trump (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/angry-protesters-flood-nyc-streets-oppose-trump-election-win-article-1.2866671)

blog-trump-floodfloodgates

In some areas, rivers are dammed up and the water is held back with gates. When the water reaches a high level, the floodgates may be opened to release the pressure. Metaphorically, opening the floodgates means that a large amount of information or many actions are suddenly released.

Example: The predatory practices of the Washington elite were actively supported by congressional carpetbaggers who approved legislation that opened the floodgates to every imaginable form of financial manipulation. (http://www.atimes.com/trump-undermines-americas-already-tattered-authority/)

*******

Once again, we can see how our experience with nature, or in this case, natural disasters creates metaphors that we can use to describe political events. Sadly, New Zealand just suffered a 7.8 earthquake early this morning, with possible tsunami waves striking the coast. Fortunately, only two people were killed based on current news reports. The use of such violent metaphors of natural disasters indicate how traumatic the Trump victory has been to many Americans. Stay tuned for more interesting metaphors used to describe the Trump presidency.