semantic drift: "office/ power"

[Wilson Gray]

"Means nothing"? Sigh! One can only hope.

-Wilson

On 6/30/07, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      semantic drift: "office/ power"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In the old days, national leaders of constitutional democracies were uniformly said to "take office." From that point on, they were "in office."
>
>   Dictators of the Hitler-Stalin-Mao type were said to "take power" and be "in power."
>
>   Well, voters, the allegedly pro-Republican Fox News Channel describes George W. Bush as being "in power." Prime Minister Gordon Brown is said to have "taken power" this week.
>
>   I've been noticing this usage for a number of months. Means nothing, of course....
>
>
>
>   JL
>
>
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All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
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                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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