David

You say that you are 82. From your photo dressed in Edwardian style, you would be in your late 90s. You should cut the baloney and admit that you are not old - you are ancient.

David,

You need a new dictionary mate. Common usage admits several senses of the word "humble" your dictionary seems not to list. For example "A man of humble origins", "we humbly beseech your majesty" etc...

It seems also to omit the word "humiliation", which describes, much more precisely, John Howard's defeat in Bennelong than either of the two senses of humble you list, seeming to believe that it's more appropriate for you to use it to describe that defeat than for Julia Gillard to use it to describe her own time as Acting Prime-Minister.

Pity about the partisanship in those opening paragraphs - it put me off reading what might have been an otherwise interesting article.

Yes John Howard has been much more careful in his use of language

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/10/1097346684255.html

"Ladies and gentlemen and my fellow Australians, can I say first of all that I am truly humbled by this extraordinary expression of confidence in the leadership of this great nation by the coalition."

R0bert

My pet niggle is the gratuitous use of the words "industry" and "products".

It seems to me that around the time when Kennett was first elected, we Victorians experienced what I would call a softening up for what was to come. I refer to the privatisation of anything that wasn't nailed down - and even some things that were.

Around that time, banks, insurance and financial institutions began to refer to themselves as industries, not service institutions. Their deals became "products". They described their invisible, intangible boondoggles as though they were somehow made of stone and steel. We in turn were no longer customers, but "conshoomers". Oh how well I remember our lilliputian treasurer Alan Stockdale referring to me as a conshoomer. I knew at that moment that I had been demoted and devalued - made a mere entry in the ledger of Intangibles Incorporated NL. Nothing has changed under the leadership of John Brumby I might add. Same excrement - different bouquet.

Now we have the dysfunctional health "industry", gambling "industry", and the howlingly named hospitality "industry". How about a consultancy "industry"? Have they no sense of shame?

How dare they take the image of an artisan sweating over a hot lump of iron and apply that to the inferior act of toiling over a spreadsheet. Theft of the language was the first shot in the war for the unearned ownership of the world by people who barely have the ability to boil an egg.

When I am crowned Emporer Of The World, my first edict will be to restore the English language to it's former glory. Spin will be a crime punishable by death.

From my balcony window I will gloat, Saddam style, as all the assorted financiers and their spin doctors are assembled in the courtyard below to be summarily shot.

- so remember - Vote (1) for ME for a saner world.

This is not meant as an argument for spin, although it is too easily dragged into the service of one: there are many occasions when people say or write what they think the situation requires of them, rather than some more indidualised expressive communication. Winners being 'humbled' has become one of these. Another is almost anything a sports star says, breathless, in a post-match interview.

For loathers of platitude, it is easy to overlook the way public figures believe they are behaving ethically when they say these things. Their public comments are a central part of their jobs, and so they consciously try to take a workmanlike attitude to the things that need saying.

Those who don't -- the public figures who put expressive integrity first -- tend to get pinged for it very quickly. This just reinforces the sense that it is more professional, more ethical, more virtuous, to make whatever pronouncement the situation seems to call for.

I whole heartedly agree with Chris Shaw regarding the overt misuse of words such as industry. I would like to add to the list, tourism industry and of late we now have a retail industry. As soon as some endeavour can be called an industry they can start getting tax payer funded handouts to augment their losses - usually in the form of "traineeships". I mean, really, who needs a two year traineeship to operate a cash register.
I would also like to bring up another commonly abused word. ORGANIC is now used by all and sundry in an effort to bestow some credence of scientific authority upon whatever is being foisted upon an easily duped public.
I am personally sick to death of pseudo-intellectuals and second hand sales people misusing scientific terminology out of context to disguise what they are really saying, which in most instances is nothing at all.

In case the point was not clearly made in my previous post

http://soapbox.unimelb.edu.au/media/Transcripts/Speech_Victory/2001_VictorySpeech_LP_T.pdf

"And I want tonight, having received in a very humbling way the support of the Australian people once again."

I find it rather intriging that in an article decrying the use of language to mislead the opening is misleading. When I read the article I recalled hearing John Howard speak in similar terms to those used by Julia Gillard, a few minutes on Google and I had two clear examples located (both for very similar circumstances to the Gillard example).

Is the author trying to mislead the reader by his choice of examples?

R0bert

just imagine, chris, that oz had a 'citizen initiative referendum' function:

you wouldn't need to be emperor of the world. instead, you'd be a citizen of the democratic republic of australia. first thing we'll do is establish an initiative no.1: "resolved, that the lawyers be rounded up and sequestered on a desert island." that would pass with 90%.

then, initiative no.2: any politician found to have lied to be tied to a pole and delivered to the lawyers island, for food, fish bait or, whatever. easy 99%.

what a wonderful world it would be, if we had cir.

Perhaps, David you could sort out the differences between these words from ex-PM Howard:

'sorry' and 'apologise'.

'core' and 'non-core'.

'children were thrown overboard' and 'We were told that and that is why I made the claim.’

"I can't recall' and 'I wasn't briefed on that'.

'never ever' a GST and 'this year we will' introduce a GST.

'I'll remain the leader of the party for as long as my party wants me to' and his refusal to accept Cabinet's wish that he stand down.

'On the night of the 1998 election I publicly committed myself to endeavouring to achieve Reconciliation by the year 2001' and (in 2007) 'if re-elected, I will put to the Australian people within 18 months a referendum to formally recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution.'

A quartet this time - the reason for Australia invading Iraq:
* 'Saddam Hussein has maintained his stockpile of chemical and biological weapons and he is on the brink of nuclear capability' and
* 'our alliance with the US is vital to the security of Australia' and
* "we entered Iraq to spread democracy' and
* Australia needs 'energy security'.

Words weave a tangled web of deceit - or should that be plain lies?

Time the writer read 'The Bullsh.t. Dictionary' - sorry I have wrapped it already to give to my brother-in-law - he's a 'public servant'.

One of my pet hates is the misuse of 'convenience', as it usually means that something extremely inconvenient is being foisted upon us. At the Easter Show in Sydney they once displayed a sign at the bottom of a flight of stairs announcing "For your convenience the Suttor Stand is full" - I think they were trying to save me the inconvenience of climbing the stairs unnecessarily, but it was information they were disseminating, not convenience.

'Assistance' is misused too - our local library had a sign explaining that they cannot provide change for large denomination bank notes as they don't hold much money - fine so far - then ruined it by concluding with "Thank you for your assistance." The librarian didn't seem to understand when I pointed out that no-one was assisting anyone, and that it was a really silly thing to have on the sign.

When the 'Two Fat Ladies' of cooking fame went to America apparently they had a really hard time getting anyone to say 'fat'. America is, of course, the home of the dishonest euphemism - people going to the bathroom with no bath, garbage collectors called sanitation engineers, anyone who teaches at a university called a professor, and on and on and on.

I have just remembered a very current term that annoys me to bits - 'Road map' - what a silly term for a plan of action. A map is an inert object that shows you where things are. 'Road map for Peace in the Middle East' is just meaningless drivel.

I am bemused by the writer, needing to wear a badge. Surely he has a companion or carer with him to ensure he gets home safely.

A nice humorous piece which bought a smile to my face.

I did however expect a more in depth analysis on how language is used to lie.

Oh the irony of 'concealing reality with words.'

This statement denies the very nature of reality.

Reality is reality is reality. You cannot conceal it with words anymore than you can conceal it by lying to yourself in the form of delusion and the pursuit of illusion.

You cannot conceal the sun by wording it in a pack of lies.

People fundamentally know the truth, what is REAL. However, its far more palatable for us to pretend otherwise, adopt a bit of free licence, and restate, redefine and lie away. Or is it lie awake. Nah, lie asleep.

This goes to a much deeper lack amongst people, which is spiritual (for want of a better, uhm, word). By which is meant, moving beyond the idea of SELF and perceiving a wider and deeper reality, a truth, in which all are immersed. Problem is that truth hurts and its a bit scary. Hence the retreat into delusion (lies).

At heart everyone who swallows a lie is lying to themselves. Ignorance and apathy for questioning is no excuse. You cannot divest yourself of responsibility for preferring to believe the lies. This is self deceit. The most pervasive of delusions is to blame others for the lies we choose to feed on.

Politicians, the essence of which is MANIPULATION, live by 'free licence.' Free licence is the backbone of manipulation, as fickle as the beast is. A bit like a leaf blowing in the wind. Dont be the leaf, be the wind. Hahaha, how corny does that sound, true tho that it is.

The writer could have struck up a more serious issue..

That people of academic youth who once would elighten and maintain standards in their use of common English , now they are forced more to yield themselves to cliches drummed by the less academic types and the media.

- the information age starving our brains of the energy to polish our language skills
- the oversupply of tertiary graduates meaning trades people translate their market dominance into other domains
- the stress on non-English speaking immigrants no longer to simply learn good English but to comply with the moribund standards of "aussies".