Philosophy in Progress

Share this post

The Orwellian Use of Approbatives: 'Democracy'

williamfvallicella.substack.com

The Orwellian Use of Approbatives: 'Democracy'

The subversion of language is the mother of all subversion

William F. Vallicella
May 26, 2022
Share this post

The Orwellian Use of Approbatives: 'Democracy'

williamfvallicella.substack.com

An approbative word or phrase is one the conventional use of which indicates an approving or appreciative attitude on the part of the speaker or writer.  The opposite is a pejorative.  'Democracy' and 'racism' as currently used  in the USA and elsewhere in the Anglosphere are examples of the former and the latter respectively. If we distinguish connotation from denotation, we can say that approbatives have an axiologically positive, and pejoratives an axiologically negative, connotation. 

Approbatives are like honorifics, except that the latter term is standardly used in reference to persons.

You will have noticed by now that the hard Left, which has come to dominate the once-respectable Democrat Party, has become infinitely abusive of the English language as part of their overall strategy of undermining what it has taken centuries to build. They understand that the subversion of language is the mother of all subversion.

And so these termitic Orwellians take the word 'democracy,' and while retaining its approbative connotation, (mis)use it to denote the opposite of its conventional referent. They use it to mean the opposite of what it standardly or conventionally means.  What they mean by it is either oligarchy or in the vicinity thereof. Hillary Clinton, for example, regularly goes on about "our democracy." But of course, in violation of the Inclusion plank in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion  (DEI) platform, "our democracy" does not include what Hillary calls "deplorables" or what Barack Obama calls "clingers." Whom does it include? Well, her and her globalist pals.

A clever piece of linguistic chicanery. Take a word or phrase with a positive connotation and then apply the Orwellian inversion algorithm. Use 'democracy' in such a way that it excludes the people.

Share this post

The Orwellian Use of Approbatives: 'Democracy'

williamfvallicella.substack.com
TopNew

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 William F. Vallicella
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing