I read this morning in the NYT that the Biden Administration is “shifting the government’s vocabulary.” Simply defined, thanks to the fabulous, honest, plain-speaking Press Secretary Jen Psaki, “words matter, tone matters, civility matters.” Yes they do, Jen Psaki! We’ll once again hear references to “climate change” and no longer hear people referred to as “illegal aliens,” as the Times reports. This is exciting news for geeks like me who instinctively pay attention to words. It’s also a gift to the general public, whose daily dose of government language will now be accurate, descriptive and filled with new words to strengthen our collective vocabulary. Great, amazing, and tremendous are all fine words, but we are capable of so much more. President Biden chose powerful and descriptive language for his address to the nation, marking the loss of half-a-million U.S. citizens to Covid. The line that stuck with me: “While we have been fighting this pandemic for so long, we have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow.” He spoke of his own experience, he spoke directly to the grieving, he spoke to our shared pain with carefully chosen words that give us comfort through their truth.
a writing service