Showing Revision 4 created 12/02/2016 by TED Translators admin.

1. Title:
   What's a snollygoster? A short lesson in political speak | Mark Forsyth | TEDxHousesofParliament
2. Description:

   Most politicians choose their words carefully, to shape the reality they hope to create. But does it work? Etymologist Mark Forsyth shares a few entertaining word-origin stories from British and American history (for instance, did you ever wonder how George Washington became "president"?) and draws a surprising conclusion.

   This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

3. 10866 0:11 - 0:14
   One of my favorite words in the whole
   of the Oxford English Dictionary
4. 14471 0:14 - 0:16
   is "snollygoster,"
5. 16338 0:16 - 0:18
   just because it sounds so good.
6. 18008 0:18 - 0:21
   And what snollygoster means
   is "a dishonest politician."
7. 22316 0:22 - 0:25
   Although there was a 19th-century
   newspaper editor
8. 24870 0:25 - 0:27
   who defined it rather better when he said,
9. 26927 0:27 - 0:29
   "A snollygoster is a fellow
   who seeks office
10. 29467 0:29 - 0:33
    regardless of party,
    platform or principle,
11. 33074 0:33 - 0:35
    and who, when he wins,
12. 34606 0:35 - 0:40
    gets there by the sheer force
    of monumental talknophical assumnancy."
13. 39854 0:40 - 0:41
    (Laughter)
14. 41407 0:41 - 0:44
    Now, I have no idea
    what "talknophical" is.
15. 43529 0:44 - 0:45
    Something to do with words, I assume.
16. 45355 0:45 - 0:49
    But it's very important that words
    are at the center of politics,
17. 48654 0:49 - 0:52
    and all politicians know
    they have to try and control language.
18. 52083 0:52 - 0:55
    It wasn't until, for example, 1771
19. 55135 0:55 - 1:00
    that the British Parliament
    allowed newspapers to report
20. 59582 1:00 - 1:02
    the exact words that were said
    in the debating chamber.
21. 62854 1:03 - 1:05
    And this was actually
    all down to the bravery
22. 65175 1:05 - 1:08
    of a guy with the extraordinary
    name of Brass Crosby,
23. 68508 1:09 - 1:10
    who took on Parliament.
24. 70258 1:10 - 1:12
    And he was thrown into the Tower of London
25. 72360 1:12 - 1:14
    and imprisoned,
26. 74478 1:14 - 1:17
    but he was brave enough,
27. 77311 1:17 - 1:20
    he was brave enough
    to take them on, and in the end,
28. 79814 1:20 - 1:22
    he had such popular support
    in London that he won.
29. 82273 1:22 - 1:24
    And it was only a few years later
30. 84060 1:24 - 1:29
    that we have the first recorded use
    of the phrase "as bold as brass."
31. 89461 1:29 - 1:31
    Most people think
    that's down to the metal.
32. 91509 1:32 - 1:35
    It's not; it's down to a campaigner
    for the freedom of the press.
33. 95951 1:36 - 1:40
    But to really show you
    how words and politics interact,
34. 100161 1:40 - 1:43
    I want to take you back
    to the United States of America,
35. 102805 1:43 - 1:45
    just after they'd achieved independence.
36. 105609 1:46 - 1:47
    And they had to face the question
37. 107381 1:47 - 1:50
    of what to call
    George Washington, their leader.
38. 110110 1:50 - 1:51
    They didn't know.
39. 111390 1:51 - 1:54
    What do you call the leader
    of a republican country?
40. 114735 1:55 - 1:58
    And this was debated
    in Congress for ages and ages.
41. 117626 1:58 - 2:00
    And there were all sorts
    of suggestions on the table,
42. 120182 2:00 - 2:01
    which might have made it.
43. 121401 2:01 - 2:04
    I mean, some people
    wanted him to be called
44. 123662 2:04 - 2:05
    "Chief Magistrate Washington,"
45. 125476 2:05 - 2:08
    and other people,
    "His Highness, George Washington,"
46. 127989 2:08 - 2:09
    and other people,
47. 129247 2:09 - 2:12
    "Protector of the Liberties
48. 132029 2:12 - 2:15
    of the People of the United States
    of America Washington."
49. 135104 2:15 - 2:16
    Not that catchy.
50. 136747 2:17 - 2:19
    Some people just wanted
    to call him king --
51. 139205 2:19 - 2:21
    it was tried and tested.
52. 140735 2:21 - 2:22
    They weren't even being monarchical,
53. 142489 2:22 - 2:26
    they had the idea that you could
    be elected king for a fixed term.
54. 145727 2:26 - 2:28
    And, you know, it could have worked.
55. 148015 2:28 - 2:30
    And everybody got insanely bored,
56. 149897 2:30 - 2:32
    because this debate
    went on for three weeks.
57. 151995 2:32 - 2:35
    I read a diary of this poor senator
    who just keeps coming back,
58. 155009 2:35 - 2:36
    "Still on this subject."
59. 156281 2:36 - 2:39
    And the reason for the delay
    and the boredom
60. 158834 2:39 - 2:42
    was that the House of Representatives
    were against the Senate.
61. 162473 2:42 - 2:47
    The House of Representatives didn't want
    Washington to get drunk on power.
62. 166714 2:47 - 2:50
    They didn't want to call him "king,"
    in case that gave him ideas,
63. 169825 2:50 - 2:51
    or his successor ideas.
64. 171189 2:51 - 2:54
    So they wanted to give him
    the humblest, meagerest,
65. 174360 2:54 - 2:57
    most pathetic title
    that they could think of.
66. 177756 2:58 - 2:59
    And that title ...
67. 179844 3:00 - 3:01
    was "President."
68. 181263 3:01 - 3:03
    (Laughter)
69. 183351 3:03 - 3:05
    "President." They didn't invent the title.
70. 185402 3:05 - 3:07
    I mean, it existed before,
71. 186748 3:07 - 3:09
    but it just meant somebody
    who presides over a meeting.
72. 189437 3:09 - 3:11
    It was like the foreman of the jury.
73. 191344 3:11 - 3:13
    And it didn't have much more grandeur
74. 193204 3:13 - 3:15
    than the term "foreman" or "overseer."
75. 195082 3:15 - 3:18
    There were occasional presidents
    of little colonial councils
76. 197979 3:18 - 3:19
    and bits of government,
77. 199175 3:19 - 3:21
    but it was really a nothing title.
78. 201390 3:21 - 3:23
    And that's why the Senate objected to it.
79. 203424 3:23 - 3:27
    They said, "That's ridiculous!
    You can't call him 'President.'
80. 207197 3:27 - 3:31
    This guy has to go and sign treaties
    and meet foreign dignitaries.
81. 210640 3:31 - 3:34
    Who's going to take him seriously
    if he's got a silly little title
82. 214219 3:34 - 3:37
    like 'President of the United
    States of America'?"
83. 216884 3:37 - 3:38
    (Laughter)
84. 219819 3:40 - 3:42
    And after three weeks
    of debate, in the end,
85. 223687 3:44 - 3:46
    the Senate did not cave in.
86. 227766 3:48 - 3:53
    Instead, they agreed to use
    the title "President" for now.
87. 233456 3:53 - 3:56
    But they also wanted
    it absolutely set down
88. 236264 3:56 - 3:58
    that they didn't agree with it,
89. 239369 3:59 - 4:05
    from a decent respect for the opinions
    and practice of civilized nations,
90. 244842 4:05 - 4:09
    whether under republican
    or monarchical forms of government,
91. 248670 4:09 - 4:11
    whose custom it is to annex,
92. 250808 4:11 - 4:13
    through the office
    of the Chief Magistrate,
93. 252848 4:13 - 4:15
    titles of respectability --
94. 255652 4:16 - 4:17
    not bloody "President."
95. 257781 4:18 - 4:21
    And that, in the intercourse
    with foreign nations,
96. 261410 4:21 - 4:25
    the majesty of the people
    of the United States
97. 264681 4:25 - 4:29
    may not be hazarded
    by an appearance of singularity --
98. 268688 4:29 - 4:31
    i.e., we don't want to look
    like bloody weirdos.
99. 272885 4:33 - 4:35
    Now, you can learn
    three interesting things from this.
100. 275514 4:36 - 4:38
     First of all -- and this is my favorite --
101. 277735 4:38 - 4:40
     is that, so far as I've ever
     been able to find out,
102. 280195 4:40 - 4:44
     the Senate has never formally
     endorsed the title of President.
103. 285491 4:45 - 4:48
     Barack Obama, President Obama,
     is there on borrowed time,
104. 288434 4:48 - 4:52
     just waiting for the Senate
     to spring into action.
105. 291598 4:52 - 4:53
     (Laughter)
106. 292868 4:53 - 4:54
     The second thing you can learn
107. 294344 4:54 - 4:58
     is that, when a government says
     that this is a temporary measure --
108. 297588 4:58 - 5:00
     (Laughter)
109. 299980 5:00 - 5:04
     you can still be waiting 223 years later.
110. 305254 5:05 - 5:09
     But the third thing you can learn --
     and this is the really important one,
111. 308794 5:09 - 5:11
     the point I want to leave you on --
112. 310542 5:11 - 5:14
     is that the title, "President
     of the United States of America,"
113. 314498 5:14 - 5:18
     doesn't sound that humble
     at all these days, does it?
114. 318644 5:19 - 5:22
     Something to do
     with the slightly over 5,000
115. 321867 5:22 - 5:24
     nuclear warheads he has at his disposal
116. 324141 5:24 - 5:26
     and the largest economy in the world
117. 326338 5:26 - 5:29
     and a fleet of drones
     and all that sort of stuff.
118. 329937 5:30 - 5:36
     Reality and history
     have endowed that title with grandeur.
119. 336891 5:37 - 5:39
     And so the Senate won in the end.
120. 338533 5:39 - 5:41
     They got their title of respectability.
121. 340985 5:41 - 5:45
     And also, the Senate's other worry,
     the appearance of singularity --
122. 344545 5:45 - 5:47
     well, it was a singularity back then.
123. 346693 5:47 - 5:50
     But now, do you know
     how many nations have a president?
124. 349566 5:50 - 5:51
     A hundred and forty-seven.
125. 351912 5:52 - 5:54
     All because they want
     to sound like the guy
126. 353947 5:54 - 5:56
     who's got the 5,000 nuclear warheads, etc.
127. 358555 5:59 - 6:01
     And so, in the end, the Senate won
128. 361458 6:01 - 6:04
     and the House of Representatives lost ...
129. 364963 6:05 - 6:07
     because nobody's going to feel that humble
130. 367503 6:08 - 6:09
     when they're told that they are now
131. 369214 6:09 - 6:12
     the President of the United
     States of America.
132. 373643 6:14 - 6:16
     And that's the important lesson
     I think you can take away,
133. 376433 6:16 - 6:18
     and the one I want to leave you with.
134. 378232 6:18 - 6:22
     Politicians try to pick and use words
     to shape and control reality,
135. 382050 6:22 - 6:24
     but in fact,
136. 383732 6:24 - 6:29
     reality changes words far more
     than words can ever change reality.
137. 389642 6:30 - 6:31
     Thank you very much.