1 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:03,720 What's in a word? 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:07,920 Why does it matter whether we call someone who breaks the law to enter the country an 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:11,080 "illegal alien" or a "undocumented immigrant"? 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,480 What's the difference between a Christmas tree and a "holiday tree?" 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,219 It's just semantics, right? 6 00:00:16,220 --> 00:00:18,400 Yes...and no. 7 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:23,300 It is just semantics, but "semantics" means the meaning of words. 8 00:00:23,300 --> 00:00:27,440 Words exist so that we might discriminate one thing from another. 9 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,700 Without words we have chaos. 10 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:36,180 And it starts with the first words; a baby says mama to distinguish mommy from daddy. 11 00:00:36,180 --> 00:00:40,660 Words shape how we think; they color how we view the world. 12 00:00:40,660 --> 00:00:42,960 No one understands this better than the Left. 13 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,000 They are the masters of words. 14 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,800 Because they know that words matter. 15 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:54,220 The Left has a special gift for euphemisms – soft words selected to sugarcoat harsh realities 16 00:00:54,220 --> 00:00:58,080 so as to make those harsh realities easier for us to swallow. 17 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,240 But these soft words are insidious. 18 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,740 Their sole purpose is to deceive. 19 00:01:02,740 --> 00:01:07,460 Race discrimination in hiring and college admissions is refashioned as the much nicer 20 00:01:07,460 --> 00:01:09,759 sounding "affirmative action." 21 00:01:09,759 --> 00:01:12,280 Who would ever oppose an affirmative action? 22 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:17,080 Global warming, which can be measured and challenged, has morphed into "climate change," 23 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,740 which means essentially nothing because the climate is always changing. 24 00:01:20,740 --> 00:01:26,080 When Barack Obama became president, George Bush's war in Afghanistan suddenly transformed 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:31,500 into the far less ominous and threatening "overseas contingency operation." 26 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:33,080 That's one way to try to end a war. 27 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:34,460 Just rename it. 28 00:01:34,460 --> 00:01:36,160 The examples are endless. 29 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:38,580 There's a new euphemism every week. 30 00:01:38,580 --> 00:01:44,040 In the make-believe world of leftist language, young criminals have become "justice-involved youth." 31 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,719 Mandates and taxes are "individual shared responsibility payments." 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,300 Government spending becomes an "investment." 33 00:01:51,300 --> 00:01:55,860 Wanting to keep more of your hard-earned money becomes "greed"; taking more of someone else's 34 00:01:55,860 --> 00:01:58,860 money is them "paying their fair share." 35 00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:02,080 Opposing a Democrat in the White House is "obstruction." 36 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,580 Opposing a Republican in the White House, "resistance"! 37 00:02:05,580 --> 00:02:09,780 In the name of "diversity" the left enforces intellectual conformity. 38 00:02:09,780 --> 00:02:12,800 It censors opposing views in the name of "tolerance." 39 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,820 And it labels all non-left views "hate speech." 40 00:02:16,820 --> 00:02:21,160 Consider the ongoing battle over pronouns – whether to call a man who thinks he's a woman 41 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:22,480 "he" or "she." 42 00:02:22,489 --> 00:02:26,489 Very few people in the country suffer from gender confusion, and we should have compassion 43 00:02:26,489 --> 00:02:32,260 for those who do, but the Left has invested countless funds, time, and energy to make 44 00:02:32,260 --> 00:02:36,300 everyone refer to some men as she and some women as he. 45 00:02:36,300 --> 00:02:37,340 Why? 46 00:02:37,340 --> 00:02:39,940 Is it because the Left is so compassionate? 47 00:02:39,940 --> 00:02:44,959 Or is it more likely because so much of the Left's cultural agenda is about blurring, 48 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,260 even denying, the natural distinctions between men and women? 49 00:02:49,260 --> 00:02:53,320 Sometimes it's just an adjective that can change or even negate the entire meaning 50 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,380 of the word it describes. 51 00:02:55,380 --> 00:02:57,220 Take "social justice." 52 00:02:57,220 --> 00:03:00,340 Justice means getting what you deserve without favor. 53 00:03:00,340 --> 00:03:05,020 "Social justice" means getting what you don't deserve because you are favored. 54 00:03:05,020 --> 00:03:07,080 Here's one we hear a lot these days. 55 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:08,740 "My truth." 56 00:03:08,740 --> 00:03:13,340 Truth is reality regardless of any individual's feelings or perceptions. 57 00:03:13,340 --> 00:03:17,620 "My truth" is how I perceive things regardless of how they really are. 58 00:03:17,620 --> 00:03:19,780 And how about "Same-sex marriage." 59 00:03:19,780 --> 00:03:23,280 Let's not get into the politics; let's just look at the language. 60 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:28,440 Throughout history, in every culture, marriage has been the union of husbands – men, 61 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:30,300 and wives – women. 62 00:03:30,300 --> 00:03:35,680 "Same-sex marriage" is the union of men with men or women with women, but it is most certainly 63 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,740 not the union of husbands and wives. 64 00:03:38,740 --> 00:03:43,360 Once the phrase "same-sex" was placed before the word marriage - that is, once the definition 65 00:03:43,370 --> 00:03:46,040 of marriage changed, the debate changed. 66 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,409 It became about "marriage equality." 67 00:03:48,409 --> 00:03:52,940 It was suddenly an act of bigotry to limit marriage to husbands and wives. 68 00:03:52,940 --> 00:03:57,080 All this manipulation of language has paid off for the left: because whoever controls 69 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,400 the words controls the culture. 70 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:00,580 Don't believe me? 71 00:04:00,580 --> 00:04:04,800 Just try using plain language instead of the Left's politically correct jargon. 72 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:05,920 But be careful. 73 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:11,300 Use "the wrong words" and you might lose your job, your home and your reputation. 74 00:04:11,300 --> 00:04:14,080 The culture war is largely a war of words. 75 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,080 Right now, the Left is winning. 76 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:21,240 You can see the consequences everywhere: in politics, in education, in media. 77 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:22,920 It's time to fight back. 78 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,800 We should not cede another syllable. 79 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:27,300 What's in a word? 80 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:28,700 Everything. 81 00:04:28,700 --> 00:04:33,020 I'm Michael Knowles, host of the Michael Knowles Show, for Prager University.