TEDxHousesOfParliament
Mark Forsyth: What's a snollygoster? A short lesson in political speak
Mark Forsyth: Hvad er en snollygoster? En kort lektion i politisk tale
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De fleste politikere vælger deres ord med omhu for at forme den virkelighed de håber på at skabe. Men virker det? Etymologist Mark Forsyth delere en par underholdende historier om ordenes oprindelse fra britisk og amerikansk historie (f.eks., har du nogensinde undret dig over hvordan George Washington blev "præsident"?) og tegner en overraskende konklusion. (Fra TEDxHousesofParliament i London)
Mark Forsyth - Writer
Mark Forsyth strolls through the English language, telling stories, making connections and banishing hobgoblins. Full bio
Mark Forsyth strolls through the English language, telling stories, making connections and banishing hobgoblins. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
One of my favorite words in the whole of
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Et af mine favoritord af alle fra
00:18
the Oxford English Dictionary is "snollygoster."
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Oxfords Engelskordbog er "snollygoster."
00:22
Just because it sounds so good.
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Bare fordi det lyder så godt.
00:23
And what snollygoster means is
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Og hvad snollygoster betyder er
00:25
"a dishonest politician."
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"en uærlig politiker."
00:28
Although there was a 19th-century
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Selvom der i det 19. århundrede
00:29
newspaper editor who defined it rather better when he said,
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var en avisredaktør, som definerede det endnu bedre da han sagde,
00:31
"A snollygoster is a fellow who seeks office
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"En snollygoster er en fyr som søger kontor
00:34
regardless of party, platform or principle,
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uanset parti, platform eller princip,
00:38
and who, when he wins,
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og som, når han vinder,
00:39
gets there by the sheer force
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opnår det med ren styrke
00:41
of monumental talknophical assumnancy."
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fra monumental, indholdsløs overtalelsesretorik."
00:45
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
00:47
Now I have no idea what "talknophical" is.
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Jeg har ingen idé hvad "overtalelsesretorik" er.
00:49
Something to do with words, I assume.
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Noget der har noget at gøre med ord, formoder jeg.
00:50
But it's very important that words are at the center of politics,
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Men det er meget vigtigt at ord er i centrum af politik,
00:53
and all politicians know they have to try and control language.
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og alle politikere ved at de bliver nødt til at prøve at kontrollere sproget.
00:57
It wasn't until, for example, 1771
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Sådan var det ikke indtil, for eksempel, 1771,
01:00
that the British Parliament allowed newspapers to report
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hvor det britiske parlament tillod aviser at rapportere
01:04
the exact words that were said in the debating chamber.
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de eksakte ord, som blev sagt i debatsalen.
01:08
And this was actually all down to the bravery
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Og dette var faktisk alt sammen p.g.a. modet
01:10
of a guy with the extraordinary name of Brass Crosby,
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fra en fyr med det usædvanlige navn, Brass Crosby,
01:13
who took on Parliament.
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som gik op imod Parlamentet.
01:15
And he was thrown into the Tower of London
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Og han var kastet ind i Tower of London
01:17
and imprisoned,
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og fængslet,
01:18
but he was brave enough,
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men han var modig nok,
01:21
he was brave enough to take them on,
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han var modig nok at tage kampen op,
01:24
and in the end he had such popular support in London that he won.
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og til sidst havde han så meget populær støtte i London, at han vandt.
01:26
And it was only a few years later
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Og det var kun få år senere
01:29
that we have the first recorded use of the phrase
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at vi fik det første registrerede brug af sætningen
01:31
"as bold as brass."
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"så modig som brass (messing)."
01:34
Most people think that's down to the metal.
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De fleste tror det handler om metallet.
01:36
It's not. It's down to a campaigner
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Det gør det ikke. Det handler om en aktivist
01:38
for the freedom of the press.
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som kæmpede for pressefrihed.
01:41
But to really show you how
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Men for virkelig at vise jer hvordan
01:43
words and politics interact,
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ord og politik spiller sammen,
01:45
I want to take you back to the United States of America,
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vil jeg tage jer tilbage til USA,
01:48
just after they'd achieved independence.
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lige efter de var blevet selvstændige.
01:50
And they had to face the question
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Og de var nødt til at tage stilling til
01:52
of what to call George Washington, their leader.
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hvad de skulle kalde George Washington, deres leder.
01:55
They didn't know.
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De vidste det ikke.
01:56
What do you call the leader of a republican country?
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Hvad kalder man lederen af et republikansk land?
01:59
And this was debated in Congress for ages and ages.
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Og dette blev debatteret i Kongressen i en evighed.
02:03
And there were all sorts of suggestions on the table,
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Og der var alle mulige forslag på bordet,
02:05
which might have made it.
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som måske kunne have blevet valgt.
02:06
I mean, some people wanted him to be called
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Jeg mener, nogen mennesker ville kalde ham
02:08
Chief Magistrate Washington,
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Overdommer Washington,
02:10
and other people, His Highness George Washington,
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og andre, Hans Højhed George Washington,
02:13
and other people, Protector of the Liberties of the People of the United States of America Washington.
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og andre, Beskytteren af Frihederne for Folket af Amerikas Forenede Stater Washington.
02:20
Not that catchy.
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Ikke så iørefaldende.
02:21
Some people just wanted to call him King.
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Nogle mennesker ville bare kalde ham konge.
02:24
They thought it was tried and tested.
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De mente det var gennemtestet.
02:25
And they weren't even being monarchical there,
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Og de havde ikke engang monarki der,
02:27
they had the idea that you could be elected King
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de havde den idé at man kunne blive valgt som konge
02:29
for a fixed term.
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for en begrænset periode.
02:31
And, you know, it could have worked.
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Og, du ved, det kunne have virket.
02:32
And everybody got insanely bored, actually,
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Og alle kedede sig sindssygt meget, faktisk,
02:35
because this debate went on for three weeks.
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fordi debatten blev ved i tre uger.
02:37
I read a diary of this poor senator,
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Jeg læste en dagbog af en stakkels senator,
02:38
who just keeps coming back, "Still on this subject."
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som blev ved med at skrive, "Stadig ved dette emne."
02:41
And the reason for the delay and the boredom was that
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Og grunden til udskydelsen og kedsomheden var, at
02:44
the House of Representatives were against the Senate.
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Repræsentanternes Hus var imod Senatet.
02:47
The House of Representatives didn't want Washington
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Repræsentanternes Hus ville ikke have Washington
02:50
to get drunk on power.
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skulle blive overvældet af magt.
02:52
They didn't want to call him King
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De ville ikke kalde ham konge.
02:53
in case that gave him ideas, or his successor ideas.
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i tilfælde af det skulle give ham eller hans efterfølger gode ideer.
02:56
So they wanted to give him the humblest, meagerest,
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Så de ville give ham den mest ydmyge, tarvelige,
02:59
most pathetic title that they could think of.
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mest ynkelige titel de kunne komme på.
03:02
And that title was "President."
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Og den titel var "Præsident."
03:08
President. They didn't invent the title. I mean, it existed before,
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Præsident. De opfandt ikke titlen. Jeg mener, den eksisterede før,
03:11
but it just meant somebody who presides over a meeting.
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men det betød bare nogen som præsiderer over et møde.
03:14
It was like the foreman of the jury.
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Det var som formanden af juryen.
03:16
And it didn't have much more grandeur
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Og det havde ikke meget mere pragt
03:18
than the term "foreman" or "overseer."
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end betegnelsen "formand" eller "tilsynsmand."
03:20
There were occasional presidents of little colonial councils
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Der var lejlighedsvis præsidenter af små koloniale råd
03:23
and bits of government, but it was really a nothing title.
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og dele af regeringen, men det var virkelig ikke nogen særlig titel.
03:26
And that's why the Senate objected to it.
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Og det var derfor Senatet protesterede imod det.
03:28
They said, that's ridiculous, you can't call him President.
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De sagde, det er latterligt, I kan ikke kalde ham Præsident.
03:32
This guy has to go and sign treaties and meet foreign dignitaries.
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Denne her mand skal rundt og skrive under på traktater og møde udenlandske, højtstående personer.
03:35
And who's going to take him seriously
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Og hvem vil tage ham seriøst
03:37
if he's got a silly little title
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hvis han har en lille dum titel
03:39
like President of the United States of America?
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som Præsident af Amerikas Forenede Stater?
03:43
And after three weeks of debate, in the end
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Og efter tre ugers debat, til sidst
03:47
the Senate did not cave in.
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gav Senatet ikke op.
03:50
Instead, they agreed to use the title "President" for now,
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I stedet blev de enige om at bruge titlen "Præsident" for nu,
03:56
but they also wanted it absolutely set down
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men de ville også have totalt fastsat
03:59
that they didn't agree with it
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at de ikke var enige med det
04:02
from a decent respect for the opinions and practice of civilized nations,
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af anstændig respekt for de holdninger og praksis af civiliserede nationer,
04:08
whether under republican or monarchical forms of government,
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omend under republikansk eller monarkisk form for regering,
04:11
whose custom it is to annex,
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hvis skik er at annektere,
04:13
through the office of the Chief Magistrate, titles of respectability --
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gennem Overdommerens kontor, titler af respektabilitet --
04:18
not bloody President --
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ikke en pokkers Præsident --
04:20
and that in the intercourse with foreign nations,
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og at i samarbejde med udenlandske nationer,
04:24
the majesty of the people of the United States
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majestæten af USA's folk
04:28
may not be hazarded by an appearance of singularity,
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må ikke være vovet af en enkeltstående optræden,
04:31
i.e., we don't want to look like bloody weirdos.
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dvs., vi vil ikke ligne nogle fandens tosser.
04:35
Now you can learn three interesting things from this.
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Man kan lære tre interessante ting fra dette.
04:38
First of all -- and this is my favorite --
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For det første -- og dette er min favorit --
04:41
is that so far as I've ever been able to find out,
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at så vidt jeg har kunnet finde ud af,
04:43
the Senate has never formally endorsed the title of President.
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har Senatet aldrig officielt godkendt titlen Præsident.
04:48
Barack Obama, President Obama, is there on borrowed time,
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Barack Obama, Præsident Obama, er der på lånt tid,
04:51
just waiting for the Senate to spring into action.
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venter kun på at Senatet skal springe i aktion.
04:55
Second thing you can learn is that
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Den anden ting man kan lære er at
04:57
when a government says that this is a temporary measure --
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når en regering siger at det er en midlertidig størrelse --
05:00
(Laughter) --
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(Latter) --
05:03
you can still be waiting 223 years later.
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kan du stadig vente 223 år senere.
05:08
But the third thing you can learn,
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Men den tredje ting du kan lære,
05:09
and this is the really important one,
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og det er den virkelig vigtige,
05:11
this is the point I want to leave you on,
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pointen jeg vil efterlade jer med,
05:12
is that the title, President of the United States of America,
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er at titlen, Præsident af Amerikas Forenede Stater,
05:17
doesn't sound that humble at all these days, does it?
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lyder ikke specielt ydmyg i disse dage, gør den?
05:22
Something to do with the slightly over 5,000
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Noget der har at gøre med de lidt over 5.000
05:25
nuclear warheads he has at his disposal
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atomsprænghoveder han har til rådighed
05:27
and the largest economy in the world
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og den største økonomi i verden
05:29
and a fleet of drones and all that sort of stuff.
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og en flåde af doner og alt den slags ting.
05:33
Reality and history have endowed that title with grandeur.
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Virkelighed og historie har udstyret titlen med pragt.
05:40
And so the Senate won in the end.
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Så Senatet vandt i sidste ende.
05:41
They got their title of respectability.
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De fik deres respekterede titel.
05:44
And also, the Senate's other worry, the appearance of singularity --
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Og samtidig, Senatets anden bekymring, den enkeltstående optræden --
05:47
well, it was a singularity back then.
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det var i hvert fald enkeltstående dengang.
05:49
But now, do you know how many nations have a president?
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Men nu, ved I hvor mange nationer har en præsident?
05:52
A hundred and forty-seven.
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Et hundrede syvogfyrre.
05:55
All because they want to sound like
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Alt sammen fordi de vil lyde som
05:56
the guy who's got the 5,000 nuclear warheads, etc.
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manden, som har de 5.000 atomsprænghoveder, osv.
06:01
And so, in the end, the Senate won
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Og så, til sidst, Senatet vandt
06:04
and the House of Representatives lost,
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og Repræsentanternes Hus tabte,
06:08
because nobody's going to feel that humble
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fordi ingen vil føle sig ydmyg
06:10
when they're told that they are now
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når de får at vide de nu er
06:12
the President of the United States of America.
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Præsident af Amerikas Forenede Stater.
06:16
And that's the important lesson I think you can take away,
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Og det er den vigtige pointe jeg tror I kan tage med jer,
06:19
and the one I want to leave you with.
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og den som jeg vil efterlade jer med.
06:20
Politicians try to pick words and use words to shape reality
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Politikere forsøger at udvælge ord og bruge ord til at forme virkeligheden
06:23
and control reality, but in fact,
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og kontrollere virkeligheden, men faktisk,
06:27
reality changes words far more
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ændrer virkeligheden ordene meget mere
06:29
than words can ever change reality.
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end ordene nogensinde kan ændre virkeligheden.
06:32
Thank you very much.
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Mange tak.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mark Forsyth - WriterMark Forsyth strolls through the English language, telling stories, making connections and banishing hobgoblins.
Why you should listen
Mark Forsyth is a passionate, self-described pedant when it comes to the English language -- but his detailed knowledge of history has given him a common-sense approach to its "proper" use. He is an author, blogger, journalist, proofreader and ghostwriter. He can be found dispelling the grammar myths we were all taught in his popular blog, the Inky Fool. His book The Etymologicon takes "a circular stroll through the hidden connections of the English language" by history of one word or phrase with each chapter.
Mark Forsyth | Speaker | TED.com