Politics' newest $40 word harks back to the 1840s
Contradistinction:听A highbrow word referring to a distinction made by contrasting the qualities of two or more things; though old-fashioned, it鈥檚 getting use lately among politicians and pundits.
When you use 鈥渃ontradistinction,鈥� you鈥檙e making clear the difference between things by comparing them, painting in contradistinction to sculpture, plants and animals in contradistinction to humans. The use of the word actually and has been gradually diminishing ever since, according to Google鈥檚 Ngram Viewer.
But in the conservative American Spectator, Stephen Moore 鈥淚鈥檝e said some nice things about Donald Trump of late and have been excoriated by many on the anti-Trump right (in contradistinction from the anti-Trump left) for this act of treason.鈥�
Also this month, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma (R) took to the Senate floor about what he called Senate minority leader Harry Reid鈥檚 inconsistency in urging Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and other Republicans to permit a vote on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Senator Reid has come under sharp criticism on the right for his 11 years ago, when Republican George W. Bush was president, that the Constitution doesn鈥檛 require the chamber to vote on a chief executive鈥檚 nominees.
鈥淪enator Reid chastised Senator Grassley, saying he wants to rewrite the Constitution,鈥� Senator Lankford said. 鈥淚n 2005, Senator Reid stood on this floor and encouraged all members to read the Constitution and that it nowhere requires that we have to take an up-or-down vote. So I don鈥檛 know which one to take on this: The current statements from Senator Reid or the previous statements from Senator Reid, because they鈥檙e in direct contradistinction.鈥�
Meanwhile, Seth Lipsky of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Donald Trump has been sharply critical of the nuclear deal that Iran struck with the United States and five other world powers, 鈥渋n sharp contradistinction to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.鈥� And in describing Senator Sanders鈥檚 victory in Michigan鈥檚 Democratic primary, Marilyn Katz of In These Times how it surprised TV networks: 鈥淚n contradistinction to the previous week, no network called the race for Sanders until more than 95 percent of the votes were in despite the fact that there had been a 20,000-vote gap for some time.鈥�
Politicians occasionally have pulled out the word in years past. The late language guru William Safire then-President Bill Clinton鈥檚 deployment of it in 1994: 鈥淚鈥檓 glad you asked that question,鈥� Clinton said at a news conference, 鈥渋n contradistinction to the one you asked right afterward.鈥�
Clinton 鈥渦sed the word correctly and, by using a $40 word 鈥� elevated the public discourse,鈥� Mr. Safire wrote. 鈥淗owever, politicians seeking the common touch might prefer 鈥榠n contrast to鈥� or 鈥榳hich is much different from.鈥櫶��
Safire couldn鈥檛 resist adding a reference to the 鈥淚ran-contra鈥� arms-for-hostages scandal of the 1980s that bedeviled Ronald Reagan: 鈥淐ritics of the foreign policy of past administrations should steer clear of contra constructions.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon writes his "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
Interested in decoding what candidates are saying? Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election,鈥澨�has听just been released.
