Essay:Best New Conservative Words
Each year the English language develops about a thousand new words. Over the course of a century, that amounts to 100,000 new words. Since the King James Version of the Bible was published in 1611, perhaps a half a million new English words have been developed.
The inevitable triumph of conservatism over liberalism is apparent from comparing the rates of generation of new terms of each type, and the quality of the terms so generated. Conservative terms are being generated at a faster rate, and with much higher quality, than liberal terms are. In the 20th century, for example, more conservative terms were developed, and they were developed at a steadier pace. The new liberal terms were clustered in the 1920s and 1960s, were fewer in number, and lacked the same high quality.
A small percentage of those new words are tremendously powerful. Here are some examples developed since the King James Version was published. Not a single one of these words was available to the translators of the King James Version:
New Term | Origin date | Comments |
---|---|---|
accountability | 1794 | |
alarmism | 1867 | needless warnings |
American dream | 1911[1] | |
anti-Christian | 1900s | about a million sites turn up in a Google search, yet the Merriam-Webster dictionary doesn't recognize this important term |
assimilate | late 1800s | the desired absorption of immigrant groups into the culture and mores of the resident population |
bailout | 1951 | wasting taxpayer money to rescue, temporarily, a failing company |
biased | 1649 | |
bork | 1988 | coined by William Safire to refer to how Democrats savage a conservative nominee, such as their defeat of Supreme Court nominee Robert H. Bork. |
bureaucracy | 1818 | |
Columbian | 1757 | relating to Christopher Columbus or the United States |
competitive | 1829 | |
conservative | 1831 | |
copyright | 1735 | extending private property to protect expressive works |
constant | 1832 | (noun) something unchanging in value |
culture war | 1991 | widespread use after the book Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America by James Davison Hunter |
death tax | 1989 | interesting, the term was coined by Canadians opposed to the high estate tax on their assets held in the United States |
deflation | 1891 | an increase in the value of savings |
demagogue | 1648 | |
deregulation | 1963 | Reagan won in 1980 by campaigning on this. |
design by committee | before 1958 | Pejorative directed against collective production by a group |
deterrence | 1861 | |
double standard | 1894 | applying harsher criticism against one group, such as churchgoers, than against another group, such as atheists |
dumb down | 1933 | |
efficiency | 1633 | Ultimately from the Latin efficientem, meaning "working out, or accomplishing"[2] |
elementary proof | 1865 | a mathematical proof based on the minimum assumptions associated with real analysis; term probably does not predate complex analysis and its first use may have been the English mathematician James Joseph Sylvester's paper, "On an elementary proof and generalisation of Sir Isaac Newton's hitherto
undenionstrated rule for the discovery of imaginary roots."[3] |
elitism | 1950 | |
entitlement | 1944 | |
ethnic voting | 1900s | widely recognized and even advocated by some,[4] yet the dictionary doesn't yet recognize it |
falsifiability | 1934 | first emphasized by Karl Popper in 1934, this helps define science: if a proposition is false, then it can be shown to be false. If not, then the proposition is not scientific. |
family values | 1916 | widespread use after a speech by Vice President Dan Quayle, 1992 |
fellow traveller | 1925 | May have existed earlier, but popularized in 1924 by Trotsky. Describes a sympathizer of a cause but who does not formally belong to the cause, such as a communist sympathizer who is not part of the communist party. |
forward-looking | 1800 | planning for the future rather than dwelling on the past |
free enterprise | 1820 | |
free market | 1907 | |
free world | 1949 | areas of the world free of communism |
globalism | 1997 | MW states it was first used in 1943[5] and the OED gives a date of 1965 for the exact term 'globalism'[6] the term "globalization" was first used in the mid-1980s in a different, complimentary sense. |
go-getter | 1921 | |
Good Samaritan | 1640 | how genuine charity is the best approach |
grade inflation | 1975 | the tendency by Liberal educationalists and public schools to increase marks, irrespective of merit or actual achievement. |
grassroots | 1901 | |
Hawthorne effect | 1962 | the increase in achievement resulting merely from being observed; this was demonstrated by experiment at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric in Cicero, Illinois |
homeschool | 1980[7] | |
incompleteness | 1931 | a system of logic or mathematics that includes propositions that are impossible to prove or disprove; term coined as a result of Kurt Godel's work in 1931 |
individualism | 1827 | values, rights and duties arise from the individual |
inflationary | 1920 | policies causing inflation of the monetary supply |
informed consent | 1967 | consent to surgery is meaningful only if informed, a requirement that should apply to abortion |
initiative | 1793 | self-starting first step toward improvement |
interventionism | 1923 | "governmental interference in economic affairs at home or in political affairs of another country"[8] |
invisible hand | 1776 | Coined by Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations and widely used today, yet Merriam-Webster fails to recognize it![9] |
Iron curtain | 1945 | coined by Winston Churchill in a speech in Missouri just after World War II, to describe the communist's figurative wall against freedom |
judicial activism | 1947 | First coined in an article in Fortune magazine by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.,[10] and repeatedly used in U.S. Supreme Court opinions since 1967,[11] yet as of 2009 Merriam-Webster dictionary still fails to recognize this widely used term. |
judicial supremacist | 2004 | One who advocates that the courts should be supreme over the other branches of government for certain legal issues; first coined in a book by Phyllis Schlafly; first used by the judiciary by the Michigan Supreme Court in Paige v. City of Sterling Heights, 476 Mich. 495 (2006).[12] |
junk science | 1962[13] | the corruption of the scientific method to advance other goals |
jury nullification | 1948 | the power of a jury to overrule the law and acquit an ostensibly guilty defendant; the power was established in the colonies in 1735 in the trial of John Peter Zenger, but this term was first used in state court by Pfeuffer v. Haas, 55 S.W.2d 111 (Tex. Civ. App. 1932) and in federal court by Skidmore v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 167 F.2d 54 (2nd Cir. 1948) |
Kremlinology | 1958 | the study of the otherwise indecipherable behavior of the government of the communist Soviet Union. Refers to the Kremlin, the traditional seat of Russian government (Soviet or not). |
laissez-faire | 1825 | opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond what is minimally necessary |
hysteria | 1801 | From the Latin hystericus, from Greek hystera meaning "womb"[14] (an old notion that hysteria was caused by the womb). |
local | 1824[15] | common usage: "all politics is local" |
microeconomics | 1947 | the study of the economics of the individual person or business |
meritocracy | 1958 | |
missile defense | 1980s | popularized by President Ronald Reagan as part of SDI |
mobocracy | 1754 | rule by a mob, as at Wikipedia |
Murphy's Law | 1958 | if something can go wrong, then it will go wrong: that was a conservative insight by an engineer Edward Murphy |
myopic | 1752 | originally a term in optometry, 1990's used to describe liberals lack of foresight |
negativism | 1824 | mental attitude that tends that is skeptical about almost everything, except one's own views |
newspeak | 1949 | political or media expressions using circumlocution and euphemisms to disguise or distract from the truth; first coined by George Orwell in 1984 |
opportunity cost | 1911 | |
originalism | 1985 | taken from original intent, The belief that the United States Constitution should be interpreted in the way the authors originally intended it |
optimism | 1759 | |
parenting | 1958 | Children raising |
patriotism | 1726 | |
personhood [16] | 1955 | Inherent rights guaranteed to all human beings from the beginning of their biological development, including the pre-born, partially born. Also, the state or fact of being a person. |
phonics | 1684 | |
politically correct | 1983 | This term originated among radicals at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to enforce radical orthodoxy, but immediately flipped in usage to become a term of mockery of radicals.[17] The term may have come from Chairman Mao in 1936. |
potential | 1817[18] | |
privatize | 1940 | to return a business or enterprise from state to private control; to de-nationalize. |
productive | 1612 | |
pro-life | 1960 | |
property right | 1853 | |
race card | 1995[19] | "Playing the race card" consists of relying on racial emotions or charges of racism in order to overcome the truth and logic in politics, legal proceedings, or otherwise; this term became familiar in the criticism of the defense and acquittal of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife and her friend. |
relativism | 1865 | the view that ethical truths are not absolute, but depend on the person or group that holds them |
responsibility | 1737 | 1787 HAMILTON Federalist No. 63 II. 193 Responsibility in order to be reasonable must be limited to objects within the power of the responsible party. |
reverse discrimination | 1969 | the use of quotas or affirmative action to use race or gender to discriminate against a better qualified person |
school choice | 1980 | popularized by Milton Friedman in his book, Free to Choose |
self-defense | 1651 | |
self-discipline | 1838 | |
self-indulgence | 1753 | |
self-reliant | 1848 | |
slippery slope | 1900s | term has been widely used for decades to expose the fallacy of "it doesn't hurt to try" |
spend-and-tax | 2009[20] | a variation on "tax-and-spend" (see below), "spend-and-tax" consists of spending the money first and then trying to justify raising taxes based on the deficit created by the spending |
straw man | 1896 | an imaginary argument or example set up for the purpose of easily knocking down, while distracting from valid arguments |
tax-and-spend | 1937 | Not yet recognized by Merriam-Webster, it is included in dictionary.com and it means the liberal policy of raising taxes and increasing government spending |
terrorism | 1795 | this was during the French Revolution |
term limits | 1861 | can you believe this is not in the dictionary yet? Merriam-Webster omits it, but dictionary.com has it[21] |
trademark | 1838 | extends the concept of private property to the marks used by business |
transaction cost | 1961 | Economist Ronald Coase won a Nobel Prize for this. |
traditionalist | 1856 | "adherence to the doctrines or practices of a tradition...the beliefs of those opposed to modernism, liberalism, or radicalism"[22] |
tree huggers | 1970s | still not recognized by the dictionary, this term criticizes extreme environmentalists, but they proudly use the term also to describe what they literally do |
trust but verify | 1980s | popularized by President Ronald Reagan as the approach to use towards communist deceit |
vandalism | 1798 | malicious destruction of someone else's property |
veracity | 1623 | devotion to truthfulness |
victimization | 1840 | |
wannabee | 1981 | a word that criticizes liberal status worship |
War on Terror | 2001 | no listing at Merriam-Webster, Encyclopedia.com has an anti-American version [23] February 2, 2009 Obama ends use of the conservative lexicon. [24] |
work ethic | 1951 | a habit of working as a moral good |
worldview | 1858 | a comprehensive way of looking at life and the world; sometimes used to criticize a liberal's irrational belief system |
Contents
Rate of Generation of Conservative Terms
The rate of generation of conservative terms is increasing at a remarkable geometric rate of growth, by doubling each century:
Century | # New Conservative Terms |
---|---|
1600s | 7 |
1700s | 14 |
1800s | 27 |
1900s | 54 |
2000s | 3 (preliminary) |
Conservative Words Not Yet Recognized by the Dictionary
A thousand new words are developed in English each year. Here is a growing list of conservative concepts, each of which is not yet defined by a single word or two.
Not Yet Recognized Terms | Suggestions | Comments |
---|---|---|
9/10 mindset | pre-9/11 thinking | terror is jurisdiction of the courts |
Unaffected by, or impervious to, the media | mediaproof | cf. bulletproof. Once John became aware of the extent of liberal deceit, he set about mediaproofing his mind. |
easily amused by deceit | dolophile | from Greek/Latin root dolo- meaning guile, deceit, deception [1] |
Hatred of one's country, refusal to recognize the good elements of it, or unreasonably critical of it | Misopatria, misopatrist | From Greek misein, to hate, and Latin patria, nation or homeland |
the opposite of materialism | spiritualism and idealism have been its philosophical opposites, historically | dualism has been suggested, but it is not the opposite of materialism; "spiritualism" is not a common term and is the "opposite" of materialism |
runaway jury | The term has existed for decades, but Merriam-Webster has not recognized it yet. | |
second-generation atheist | cradle atheist | |
denial that Hell exists | Hell-denier? Antinfernal? | |
deliberate ignorance | the term exists; the dictionary does not yet include it | |
proven wrong, a refusal to admit it | mulism; heel-digger? | cf. mulish. This refusal is what promoted the Parable of the Good Samaritan. |
illegal alien | widely used in court decisions and political discourse for years, Merriam-Webster still does not recognize it is as a term. | |
strict constructionism | an important term for over 200 years to describe adherence to the text of the Constitution, Merriam-Webster still does not recognize it. | |
denier of the effectiveness of abstinence | abstinence-denier? | |
anti-family | tradition opposer, familiopathic | |
dramacast | tabloid news | mainstream media presents drama fluff stories as news, e.g. 20/20 - Dateline |
militant gays | intimidating homosexual | |
causing harm by spreading falsehoods | e.g., denying or concealing disease and infertility caused by promiscuity | |
peer pressure | can you believe that isn't recognized by Merriam-Webster? | |
modern idolatry | "media idolatry"; "money idolatry"; "celebrity idolatry" | idolatry conjures images of golden calves, and a modern version is needed |
Rule of Law | ||
schlockumentary | propaganda film | documentary films based falsehoods and half-truths |
New Liberal Terms
New liberal words often have deceptive, or nonsensical, meanings. Here are some new words created by liberals to combat conservatism:
New Term | Origin date | Comments |
---|---|---|
atheist | 1571 | useful and often deceptive alternative name for an anti-Christian |
big bang | 1948 | term invented by the leading British physicist Sir Fred Hoyle to mock this suggestion of how the universe was formed |
bilingual education | 1972 | a euphemism describing a costly and hurtful program that hinders the learning of English by foreign-born children in American public schools, which hurts their future opportunities |
carbon footprint | 1999[25] | term indicates an individual human's effect on the environment by production of carbon dioxide |
chairperson | 1971 | Even Alice Sturgis, the leading parliamentarian of the 20th century, rejected this cumbersome form of political correctness. |
check-off | 1911 | automatic deduction of union dues by the employer from the employee's paycheck, so he has no choice |
class warfare | first entered the political lexicon primarily as an attack by liberals against conservatives. [26] | |
communism | 1840 | |
compassion fatigue | 1968 | Liberals, driven by materialistic self-interest, are likely to suffer from this. |
condescension | 1647 | Treating another person as though they are inferior |
creationism | 1880 | like most "isms", creationism is a derogatory term coined preferred most by opponents of it. |
Dark Ages | 1730 | A term coined in the so-called enlightenment to disparage the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and c.1000, when the Christian faith, and its learning and culture, spread across Europe. |
dead white males | a disparaging term used of significant figures from previous generations by those who wish to undermine cultural literacy | |
deconstruction | 1973 | a style of interpretation of texts that looks beyond the plain meaning of the text and instead infers social bias |
diva | 1883 | modern use to describe female Hollywood/media personalities |
detente | 1970s | A euphemism referring to pacifist policy re. the Soviet Union |
distributive justice | A term used to redefine socialist abridgment of rights as "just" | |
enlightenment | 1669 | |
environmentalism | 1922 | a mixture of pseudoscience and neo-paganism used to justify the imposition of socialistic controls. |
freethinker | 1692 | the euphemism "free" hides the hostility towards faith, which is not free |
fundamentalism | 1922 | "a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching"[27] From a series of pamphlets called "The Fundamentals" which outlined the movement. Perjorative usage started when the liberal Harry Emerson Fosdick began using the term in a straw man attack against Conservative Christianity. |
feminism | 1895 | notionally, "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes"; in reality, the attempt to destroy traditional family, societal and religious values by erasing or undermining natural gender differences. |
gay rights | 1969 | The movement for civil rights for homosexuals |
glass ceiling | 1984 | the notion that an invisible barrier prevents women and ethnic minorities from reaching high office; an excuse for feminists and others to demand affirmative action |
global warming | 1969 | The baseless environmentalist mantra that the earth's temperature is rising, and that human intervention is the cause. |
gun control | 1969 | a euphemism for restricting the right to keep and bear arms |
homophobia | 1969 | used by Liberals to describe a failure to subscribe 100% to the homosexual agenda. |
humanism | 1808 [28] | |
imperialism | 1851 | a clever term later used by liberals to interfere with Christian missionaries and stopping anti-Christian tyranny |
isolationism | 1922 | a pejorative term that is critical of American politicians putting America first in priorities |
Keynesianism | 1946 | advocacy of 'tax and spend' policies as elaborated by the economist John Maynard Keynes; a euphemism for back-door Socialism. |
Living Constitution | 2000 | a continually evolving Constitution (first used by presidential candidate Al Gore, title of a 1936 book by Howard McBain) |
McCarthyism | 1950 | Originally, investigations by Sen. Joe McCarthy of Communists working in sensitive USA government jobs. Later, it more broadly refers to holding radical leftists accountable for their beliefs and loyalties. |
moderate | late 1900s | the original term dates from the French Revolution, but its meaning today is a euphemism for someone who favors abortion and/or supports censorship of Christianity in some ways. |
nationalize | 1800 | a euphemism for the government taking over ownership and control of a large company or entire industry, as in socialism |
natural selection | 1857 | a misleading and euphemistic term for the theory that genetic advantages and conflict dictate survival |
population control | 1968 | the issue of population dates back to Confucius. Liberals promoted the term after the book The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich |
pro-choice | 1975 | a euphemism for insisting on taxpayer-funded abortion; people who claim to be pro-choice typically oppose informed choice, which makes the "choice" meaningless |
progressivism | 1892 | the progressive movement was not entirely liberal; it was started by a Republican and shared some goals with conservatives, and still does |
quote mining | non-existent | a term used by evolutionists to describe taking quotes out of context in order to damage the position of the quoted party. |
racism | If you don't support Barack Obama, you are guilty of.... | |
sexism | 1968 | That which is practiced by those who do not give total support to feminism. |
situation ethics | 1955 | a euphemism for denying fixed ethical standards |
strict liability | 1869 | court-imposed liability even when there is no evidence of any fault by the defendant |
Swift-Boating | 2004 | Allegations of unfair campaign tactics. |
undocumented immigrant | 2000 | a politically correct replacement for illegal alien. |
unfair | 1700 | |
union shop | 1904 | |
Unitarian | 1687 | |
will to power | 1907 | Nietzche's concept of the drive of a superman to perfect himself by exercising creative power; it didn't catch on |
Rate of Generation of Liberal Terms
The rate of generation of liberal terms is increasing:
Century | # New Liberal Terms |
---|---|
1600s | 4 |
1700s | 2 |
1800s | 9 |
1900s | 25 (7 in the 1960s) |
2000s | 3 |
New Terms Difficult to Classify
These new terms are difficult to classify:
affirmative action | 1961 | first used in JFK's Executive Order 10925 in 1961 and subsequently promoted by LBJ. |
bipartisan | 1909 | emphasized by liberals when they are in the minority in power, but ignored by liberals when they are the majority in power |
Cold War | 1947 | open hostilities and ideological driven differences between nations |
smoke and mirrors | 1982 | describes the use of deceit, particularly in politics; probably a conservative term, but will await more etymology about it |
telecommute | 1974[29] | a combination of a Greek root ("tele", which means "far off") and a Latin root ("commutare", which means "to exchange") |
twilight zone | 1949 | the realm of imagination that seems impossible but is difficult to disprove, and which challenges ordinary views of reality; also the terminator between night and day on a planetary body |
Downgraded Conservative Terms
These conservative terms are less significant:
byzantine | 1794[30] | |
entropy | 1868 | |
filibuster | 1851 | |
incandescent | 1794 | bright and radiant, conquering darkness, precursor to the invention of the incandescent lamp (light bulb) |
Luddite | 1811 | one who opposes and even destroys technological advances |
media | 1923 | |
milquetoast | 1933 | |
normalcy | 1920 | related to the election of Warren G. Harding by the largest margin yet in history |
ne'er-do-well | 1736 | "an idle worthless person" - Merriam-Webster |
reticent | 1834 | restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance |
Sources
References
- ↑ 1911 is the date given by the "OED", which refers to the Oxford English Dictionary. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives a date of 1931.
- ↑ Online Etymological Dictionary
- ↑ http://www.archive.org/stream/circular129johnuoft/circular129johnuoft_djvu.txt
- ↑ http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/5/2/3/4/p152345_index.html
- ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/globalism
- ↑ http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50095613/50095613se2?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=globalism&first=1&max_to_show=10&hilite=50095613se2
- ↑ The OED assigns a date of origin of 1850 to "homeschool".
- ↑ Merriam-Webster (1994).
- ↑ This term is absent from the 1994 print edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary
- ↑ http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/278089
- ↑ United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218 (1967).
- ↑ A similar yet different concept, "judicial supremacy," was coined by conservative Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson as the title of his book, The Struggle for Judicial Supremacy: A Study of a Crisis in American Political Power (New York: Knopf, 1941).
- ↑ http://rated.com/dir/Society/Issues/Environment/Opposing_Views/Junk_Science
- ↑ Meriam Webster Dictionary
- ↑ This date refers to its first usage as a noun, which is an estimate of its adoption as a concept.
- ↑ Personhood Dictionary.com
- ↑ For an early different usage of the word, see 1793 J. WILSON in U.S. Rep. (U.S. Supreme Court) 2 (1798) 462 Sentiments and expressions of this inaccurate kind prevail in our..language... ‘The United States’, instead of the ‘People of the United States’, is the toast given. This is not politically correct.
- ↑ Usage here refers to "promise", not "possibility".
- ↑ This is the date of its widespread familiarity.
- ↑ http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/02/morning-bell-the-obama-tax-and-spend-economy-is-here/
- ↑ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/term+limit
- ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traditionalist
- ↑ war on terrorism Encyclopedia.com
- ↑ Obama administration drops 'war on terror' phrase Pew Forum, February 2, 2009
- ↑ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carbon%20footprint
- ↑ The art of "class warfare", Ben Fritz, Spinsanity.org, January 15, 2003
- ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fundamentalism
- ↑ http://newhumanist.org.uk/1740
- ↑ This first use was in the British magazine The Economist.
- ↑ The usage here -- in sense of complex governmental rules -- probably developed later.