Politics in America, Semantics “Then politicians adopted “gotcha” and (being politicians) promptly stripped it of its fun. It became a marker of grievance, umbrage and exasperation” Author Drew Kaplan Date 9 August 2015 “Gotcha” — the collapsed form of “got you” — first appeared as a random...
Semantics “…the shine has come off this hardy, once-helpful word” (privilege) Author Drew Kaplan Date 2 August 2015 …the shine has come off this hardy, once-helpful word. It looks a little worn,...
Politics in America, Semantics “…’folks’ serves as a softener of rhetorical edges. It suggests a mode of kinship and self-conscious informality that politicians increasingly default to, perhaps as an overcorrective to the inflated wealth of those same politicians” Author Drew Kaplan Date 3 July 2015 …“folks” serves as a softener of rhetorical edges. It suggests a mode of kinship...
Culture, Semantics Teenagers’ “speech is the site of rebellion, and their slang provides shelter from adult scrutiny” Author Drew Kaplan Date 22 June 2015 Teenagers may not be able to drive or vote or stay out past curfew...
Semantics “…sometimes medicine’s interventions are unwelcome or go overboard, and nature’s way of doing things can serve as a useful corrective” Author Drew Kaplan Date 7 June 2015 In the case of “natural immunity,” the modifier implies the absence of human intervention,...
Marriage, Semantics “Tradition changes over time and from culture to culture, and so commands a fraction of the authority of nature…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 3 June 2015 When marriage or certain sexual practices are described as “natural,” the word is being...
Semantics “So what are we really talking about when we talk about natural? It depends…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 31 May 2015 So what are we really talking about when we talk about natural? It depends;...
Semantics “…the term “whore” does not necessarily have to be misogynist, but it was in the context…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 27 May 2015 I should not have just called a whore. She’s a loathsome and awful...
Semantics “…when the orders are reworded to say “allow natural death,” patients and family members and even medical professionals are much more likely to give their consent…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 26 May 2015 It seems that getting end-of-life patients and their families to endorse “do not resuscitate”...
Semantics “In a world where the selfie has become our dominant art form, tautological phrases like ‘You do you’ and its tribe provide a philosophical scaffolding for our ever-evolving, ever more complicated narcissism” Author Drew Kaplan Date 24 April 2015 You’ve…come across that expression’s siblings, like the defensive, arms-crossed “Haters gonna hate” or the...