The Dumbing Down of America Continues

Yup, yup.

TAPPED: October 2005 Archives: "Democrats would do well to be as concerned about their own Latin language. For all his faults, George Bush is a master speaker of simple Anglo-Saxon (not to mention an occasional dropper of g's). Bill Clinton also spoke Anglo-Saxon. John Kerry, on the other hand, spoke a highly Latinized language, as exemplified by his favorite modifier, the five- to six-syllable 'extraordinary.' And, worrisomely, Hillary Clinton speaks a heavily Latinized language, as well.

The good news, though, is that unlike voice timbre, candidates do have some control over their own choice of words. They could do a lot worse than reading Orwell's essay, and following his instructions to 'never use a long word where a short one will do' and 'never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.' It might not help with the dropped-g question, but it would certainly help them seem more down-to-earth"

So when you speak with world leaders, do you use Anglo-Saxon or highly Latinized? Even though I am an isolationist in that I want us to do more at home, I do realize that we interact with the world on a second by second basis. When people from other countries learn English which version would that be? Don't you think it would be a good idea if they taught English in school? I learned to read and then proceeded to keep it up as a hobby, I should use one syllable words instead of the ones that come easily to mind so that people will like me? For a job such as the presidency it should be more than a popularity contest about who looks or sounds better. I'd like to think that shrub's way of speaking is because he is trying to find a common word since his vocabulary is so extensive, but I know better.

Shouldn't the American people expect more from their leaders?