I was raised to mistrust euphemisms. My mother was a plainspoken Midwestern farmer’s daughter. She said what she meant and meant what she said. She rarely cursed but disliked the euphemisms for shit, “The word poop is cute. Shit isn’t cute.”
Mom was a courteous, polite, and kind person who wouldn’t tolerate bullshit or lies. The phrase “let the chips fall where they may” was made for her. She told it like is even if it wasn’t what you wanted to hear.
I haven’t always lived up to her example, but I’ve tried. It’s gotten me in trouble at times but I, too, prefer to let the chips fall where they may. To be blunt, I’m blunt.
That brings me to the Washington Post’s great three-part article, The Attack. They weave together various strands of what happened before, during, and after the 1/6 Dipshit Insurrection. It combines original reporting with the known facts in a coherent and interactive fashion. It’s a story that was made for the internet.
As much as I hate to cavil about such a magisterial accomplishment, cavil I must. Throughout all three parts, the word lie is rarely used. Instead, they deploy variations on falsely claimed. It’s a phrase you might use when you catch someone you care about in a lie but using it in the context of the Dipshit Insurrection is like calling shit, poop.
Whose feelings are they trying to spare? The Impeached Insult Comedian? The insurrectionists? The My Pillow Guy? John Eastman? Fuck that poop shit.
A lie is a lie even when it’s called a false claim. The WaPo’s use of this particular euphemism doesn’t wreck the piece, but it undermines it. The Dipshit Insurrection was based on the BIG LIE that the 2020 election was rigged. The BIG FALSE CLAIM doesn’t work.
It’s time for the media to stop calling the shit that went down on 1/6/2021 poop. Shit is not cute, neither was the Dipshit Insurrection. A lie is a lie even when it’s called a false claim.
We have a four-headed last word from The Rolling Stones, Manassas, The Black Keys, and En Vogue:
Yes, lies should be called out as lies, and strongly.
But I can see how, when one is trying to do “good” writing, that one avoids overusing a particular word or phrase, even if it IS the most accurate and apt.
Just brand LIAR on the MAGAts foreheads with a red-hot branding iron. Further infractions get the LIAR carved into their heads with a chain-saw.
I, too, am averse to repeating phrases BUT they repeated variations on “false claims” dozens of times. I like the branding suggestion.
“Lie” has been made a toxic word by politicians who use it accusingly for mistakes, fibs, euphemisms and misinformation coming from their enemies, regardless of context or background. It has lost meaning. Same politicians will neuter the word “fake”.