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Articles on Political language

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When politicians swear we might think they’re simply overcome with emotion. But there’s often more going on behind the language they use. (Shutterstock)

Politicians dropping the F-bomb: There’s more to it than you might think

Politicians dropping the f-bomb tend to be seen as acting out of emotion, but the way we use taboo language is often about what we can accomplish by violating rules.
Doctors protest against what they see as the Conservative Party’s push to privatise the health service. Isabel Infantes/PA

The British election explained in five key phrases

One side wants to ‘get Brexit done’ while the other shouts the ‘NHS is not for sale!’. What does it all really mean?
‘Candidate’ has its roots in the word ‘candid’, to be frank. It’s hard not to believe that we’ve strayed a little from those noble aspirations. Cesare Maccari/Wikimedia Commons

From donkey votes to dog whistles, our election language has a long and political history

Many of the most commonly used election terms have a long linguistic history, stretching from ancient Rome to modern-day America and Australia.
Liberalism means something completely different in South Africa compared with the US and UK, and has racist connotations. shutterstock

Navigating South Africa’s loaded political lexicon

Liberalism is a dirty word for the majority of South Africans. This goes back to early colonialism. Liberals opposed apartheid but not the close relationship between capitalism and apartheid.

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