[Ads-l] "threat" vs. "warning"

[Baker, John]

Did Trump mean that a U.S. Representative's vote against his bill would result in voters' rejection of the Representative at the ballot box, independent of any action on Trump's part?  That would be a warning and not a threat.  Or did Trump mean that he would cause negative consequences for such a Representative?  That would be a threat and also a warning.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of James A. Landau
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2017 10:26 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "threat" vs. "warning"

from Netscape News
http://isp.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0002/20170322/KBN16T07D_5.htm

<quote>
Trump himself warned House Republicans in a meeting on Tuesday that their seats will be at risk next year if they do not support his healthcare bill, which would modify but not eliminate Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare legislation passed in 2010.

“He warned us that there are consequences if we don’t come together for us as a party and also for individuals,” Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina said after the meeting. “He wasn’t threatening in any way. He was just giving us a pretty clear warning.”
</quote>

I for one cannot see the difference between "threatening" and "giving a warning".  All I can figure out is that Representative Hudson was being euphemistic.

from the same article, a political term I am not familiar with: "keying"
<quote>
...the Club for Growth, the Heritage Foundation's political arm, and Americans for Prosperity <snip> are “keying” the vote, which means it will be a factor in determining whether the groups deem a lawmaker to be sufficiently conservative. </quote>

- Jim Landau

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