Pixelated Semantics

A schizotypical inventory

Taboo for pollies

Victorian MPs have been restrained from alleging politicians are lying in the Parliament, however the 'clarification' of semantic rules has alarmed some who feel they '...shouldn't have to be too precious about finding different adjectives (sic) to describe ministers who constantly lie.' The rationale is that 'an accusation that a member has lied or is lying is an imputation of an improper motive'. The Speaker 'clarifying' the definition said it's not 'unparliamentary' to use the phrase 'that is a lie', but it's incorrect to call someone 'a liar'. The principle is actually quite clear (to a writer at least): that the speech of a politician can be referred to as 'a lie', but the politician cannot be called 'a liar'. The Advertiser frames their report quite colloquially:

'Accusations of "lying" or having "lied" are now taboo in the lower house, although it will still be okay for the pollies to brand any particular statement from a rival as a "lie".'

The words 'taboo', 'pollies', and 'rival' are familiar speech, although the writer's description is one of more clear and succicnt, even if the usage is a peculiarly Australian form of journalism. It does seem distracting to be arguing over language when there are no doubt more pressing issues - and with the current state of popular language awareness, it's dubious that many would appreciate the intent. Some politicians cannot evidently tell a noun from an adjective, either.

Item posted by AutoEditor at 12:21 pm ::