Monday, February 27, 2012

Manipulating Meaning: The Military Name Game


I never realized before reading this article the importance that can rely within something as simple as just a name. Someone’s choice of words really can change the connotation of the entirety of what they are trying to say. This reminds me of the ESPN writer who was recently fired for using the headling “A Chink in the Armor” when referring to Knicks’ point guard Jeremy Lin’s first loss after his explosive first couple games with Knicks. Although “A Chink in the Armor” is a commonly used expression and headline in sports, because Jeremy Lin was the topic of discussion the headline was seen as exteremly offensive and the author was promptly and publically fired from ESPN.
I was surprised to see just how in depth the thought process behind military operations in order to manipulate public opinion. However, I shouldn’t have been so surprise because this has been common practice for the governments since before World War II, when Hilter used words to manipulate the people into believing his military operations were for the good of the people, instead of the horrors we now know them to be.

1 comment:

  1. I remember reading about the ESPN writer getting fired for using that title for an article. I think this also goes back what we learned in class about race. People sometimes judge us on what our race is and don’t look at what kind of person we or the skills that we possess.

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