kinetic

[Jonathan Lighter]

I watched Fox regularly and exclusively for eight years because I liked
their style and endless battling heads. In 2008 I quit because I could no
longer stomach the sarcasm and innuendo. (And let's just say that Obama had
not been my first choice.)

But sometimes I give a quick look. Last week I was in time to hear an
anchor ask in amazement, "American planes are bombing Libya. But [_look of
dismay_] where's the President????"

(He was on a state visit to Brazil, surrounded by aides and cell phones.)

Again, Steve "I'm Just a Big Lovable Kid" Doocy says, "At 3 in the morning,
Obama was wakened by the phone call on the Japanese earthquake and tsunami
that have cost thousands of lives. What did he do next day? [_Flat,
cynical_] He played golf."

At the height of the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon did not
get that kind of crap from the "mainstream media," and despite its
endless self-serving claims, Fox News is mainstream.

Sorry for the nonlinguistic digression.

JL


On Sat, Mar 26, 2011 at 12:04 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: kinetic
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "kinetic" as "moving, changing", from "kinetic energy", the energy of
> motion?
>
> Joel
>
> At 3/26/2011 11:30 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >A commentator on CNN describes operations against Libya as "a kinetic
> >military event."
> >
> >In this instance, it's simply a pretentious, redundant description (with
> >"kinetic" essentially meaning "dynamic" or "fluid") and not (as some might
> >assume) a propaganda euphemism.
> >The context was something like, "Well, this is a kinetic military event
> and
> >so Obama needs to blah blah blah...."
> >
> >JL
> >On Sat, Mar 26, 2011 at 8:52 AM, Ben Zimmer
> ><bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu>wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> > > Subject:      Re: kinetic
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > On Sat, Mar 26, 2011 at 4:50 AM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
> > > >
> > > > If you go to the video to about 2:51 mark, you will see and hear two
> > > > weasels in terminological heat.
> > > >
> > > > http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201103250045
> > > >
> > > > Luntz claims he's never heard "kinetic". Hannity mentioned "kinetic"
> at
> > > > 2:47, which is what set Luntz off. But Luntz's "explanation" of what
> he
> > > > thinks "kinetic" means is completely idiotic.
> > > >
> > > > Wasn't "kinetic" mentioned here a couple of weeks ago?
> > >
> > > "Kinetic event" was the winner in the Most Euphemistic category in the
> > > 2010 ADS WOTY voting (defined on the nomination list as "Pentagon term
> > > for violent attacks on troops in Afghanistan"). Jonathan Lighter
> > > brought it up here in September:
> > >
> > >
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1009B&L=ADS-L&P=R6716
> > >
> > > --bgz
> > >
> > > --
> > > Ben Zimmer
> > > http://benzimmer.com/
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >--
> >"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
>  >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org