Arthur Solomon

Arthur Solomon

During my days as a reporter and editor, my first supervisor instructed me to write clear, concise sentences that everyone who picked up a newspaper could understand. “Using slang or ‘inside baseball’ terminology is a way to get fired,” he said.

If we weren’t certain of a sentence structure or word use we would open our toolbox and refer to our bible, “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White. Other tools were the AP and New York Times style books. If I was unsure about correct usage I sought help from the copy chief. And a pocket dictionary accompanied me everywhere.

Writing clear, concise copy was a must demanded by supervising editors. If not, you were told to rewrite until “even someone who never read about the subject would understand the story,” my first editor would say. Today, that rule has largely disappeared. Instead, what we often see in print or hear on TV is “inside baseball” talk.

For those new to the term, “inside baseball” doesn’t refer to only baseball. It refers to a language that only insiders can understand, a language whose meaning is confusing to an outsider. Unfortunately, even our best print publications and TV commentators use this confusing language. The “inside baseball” lingo is so prevalent and confusing that it has diminished our language to a point where often it only makes sense to insiders.

The most convoluted use of language occurred during the recent presidential campaign, when spokespeople and politicians were reinventing the use of language on a daily basis, highlighted by some GOP elected officials saying they would not endorse or support Donald Trump but would vote for him.

Rep. Dave Reichert of Washington was very clear that he would “never” endorse Donald Trump for president. But when questioned he said, “I never said I wouldn’t vote for him, I just said I wouldn’t endorse him.”

Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, based on her answering a question on August 16 by a CNN interviewer, was asked to explain her statement that she would vote for Trump but not endorse him. She said endorsing means to campaign for someone. Maybe in her small section of New Hampshire but not in the language reference books I checked.

Here’s a sample common words and phrases that have recently replaced proper English in today’s political landscape:

--Stopped the bleeding: This phrase was used by pundits and political analysts every time Trump stayed on script.  What you should know about this phrase is that every time it was uttered, the opposite happened.

--No path to victory: This is one of the catch-all phrases most used by cable TV political reporters when they didn’t know enough about the details to ask intelligent questions. Others were “looks bad,” ‘bad optics,” and “could cause problems down the road.”

--Wave election: This was the phrase du jour, meaning a landslide.

--Spokesperson: Someone who explains what a president means after the statement was criticized, most often used by Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer.

--Surrogate: A spokesperson for a candidate who is willing to tell outright lies about the opposition.

--Rigged election: A phrase meaning a candidate is losing made popular by President Trump.

--Alternate meaning: A delusional loser.

--A mess: Anything that government did prior to Trump’s inauguration.

--What a mess: A phrase Trump thinks will get people to believe that there is a mess.

--Believe me: The beginning phrase of a Trump lie.

--Outstanding: Anything that Trump does, according to Trump.

--World class: Any appointee that Trump makes, according to Sean Spicer.

My personal TV political dictionary:

--Repetitious: A synonym for cable TV political reporting.

--Pundit: A TV make-work program for journalists whose print publications have expired or for political consultants without a campaign to run.

--Bad Optics, Could Cause Problems, Looks Bad, Raises Questions: Just a few of the many words used by TV reporters when they don’t know enough about a subject to make a sensible comment.

--Cable TV: A free media vehicle for political propaganda.

--Reagan Democrats: A phrase used by Wolf Blitzer, which probably upsets CNN’s advertising department because it has an elderly viewer connotation.

--Fox News: A cable TV station for fake news and conspiracy-oriented viewers.
 Interesting: The word of choice for anchors after a report from a field reporter, especially when the anchor has nothing to add.

--Unnamed sources: A tactic used to convey information without identifying the source that is proper to use only by a Trump spokesperson

--Fake news: Any report critical of the Liar-in-Chief.

--Alternative facts: Read Kellyanne Conway’s lips.

--Good cable TV reporter: An attractive woman or handsome man who imparts little original news. Alternative meaning: An individual who doesn’t get bored repeating the same thing ad infinitum.

--Dishonest media: Any outlet that writes or televises critical stories about Trump.


--James Comey: A punching bag for Democratic and Republican politicians.

--Once in a blue moon: Waiting for the president to speak the truth.

If you want to add to this list, pay attention to pundits and commentators, but especially Kellyanne Conway, if she’s ever allowed on TV again. Make sure you bring a legal-size pad to write down her expressions, however, or you’ll soon run out of room.

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Arthur Solomon was a senior VP at Burson-Marsteller. He now is a contributor to public relations and sports business publications, consults on PR projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected].