- Wordy again part three - 16th February 2026
- ‘Lies, damned lies etc…’ - 13th February 2026
- Missing in action - 12th February 2026
During 42 years in journalism (when he was trained to use simple language, avoiding jargon) for our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, choosing EXACT words has always been paramount, as well as having a keen knowledge of how the English language changes all the time, but now new evidence is coming to light of efforts to control its use.
It’s like nailing jelly to the wall.
Language changes continuously, and efforts to fix it at a certain point, or control its constant evolution are completely useless.
All you can do as a journalist is take steps to find out what is in common parlance, and endeavour to reflect that, as well as for lexicographers to explain the meaning today in a dictionary.
Sad to say certain regimes (particularly autocratic ones) see alterations in ordinary use of language as a threat, so futilely try to put a stop to it – and more evidence of this is emerging around the world.
Sometimes, incredibly, the police are involved, and we see examples today of the law being used to bring people to heel.
Let’s look at one instance – in the bizarre dictatorship of North Korea where the regime views trendy youth slang (and looks) from South Korea as bad influences.
The ‘Law on Rejecting Reactionary Thought and Culture’ of 2020 imposes severe penalties for distribution and consumption of foreign information.
The ‘Youth Education Guarantee Law’ of 2021 prohibits copying foreign hair and clothing styles, and requires parents to ensure their children uphold socialist morals.
The ‘Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Law’ of 2023 bans the use of South Korean slang words, such as women referring to their boyfriends or husbands as oppa (older brother).
Then there is the incorrect use of an English word (or words) – I am thinking here particularly of the term ‘witch hunt’ which appears to be wheeled out whenever someone is in trouble, because he or she doesn’t like what is coming out, so feels the best way of gaining sympathy is to blame the investigation itself.
Donald Trump, for example, apparently finds it a helpful prop all the time (in RIDICULOUS circumstances).
He of course uttered it when his close ally Jair Bolsonaro went on trial accused of plotting a military coup (losing the case), and it was inevitable really because Mr Trump had already posted it on the internet.
On July 9 United States of America (USA) ministers were in a cabinet meeting when Mr Trump published a letter online announcing tariffs of 50 per cent on Brazilian imports, citing a “Witch Hunt that should end immediately!” (referring to the legal charge against Mr Bolsonaro).
However let us remind ourselves of the details. On January 8 2023, after Mr Bolsonaro (often called “The Trump of the Tropics”) lost his re-election bid, thousands of protesters – clad in the canary-yellow Brazil football shirts that have become emblematic of his right-wing movement – stormed government buildings and court houses.
Rioters broke into the Presidential Palace, Congress and Supreme Court, leaving a trail of vandalism behind them. and to many, it felt almost identical to January 6 2021, when supporters of Mr Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington DC, after he too failed to accept he had lost an election.
But this is FAR from the only time that the tired phrase ‘witch hunt’ has been used, and Mr Trump is seemingly a great believer in the power of wielding it.
For example he said the embezzlement case against Marine Le Pen was a ‘witch hunt’, although the background is disturbing as she had been handed a five-year ban on running for office after a court found her and two dozen figures from her National Rally (RN) party guilty of embezzling European Union (EU) funds.
Mr Trump also demanded all the legal cases against him be dismissed (the one about him storing top secret documents on the ballroom stage at his huge home in Florida was thrown out by a judge appointed during HIS administration!), proclaiming (naturally) that his appearance in a court room was all part of the “witch-hunt” against him.
He was convicted of falsifying business records over payments made to the porn actress Stormy Daniels to cover up their alleged affair.
Apart from calling the proceedings a “witch-hunt”, Mr Trump described the judge as a “disgrace” for refusing his legal team’s application that this was all a mistrial.
The real ‘disgrace’ though, is using a cliché when everyone knows he is in the wrong.
That and dictatorships trying to stop language evolving….
The memories of Phil’s astonishing 42 year award-winning career in journalism (when the use of accurate words was central) as he was gripped by the rare neurological disabling condition, Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order the book now!
