...this contented sadness runs more than the surface bittersweet of resignation." (Poetry Quarterly.) no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one...hearer to think he means something quite different. Statements like Marshal Petain was a true patriot, The Soviet press is the freest in the world, The...

...justice, have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is...them has his own private definition, but allows his bearer to think he means something quite different. Statements like Marshal Petain was a true patriot,...

...regime claim that it is a democracy, fearing that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way. The Chinese government, which defines itself as a "socialist democracy," would be a good example of...

...dollars to these new "democratic" regimes. Certain words, such as "democracy," George Orwell wrote, "are often used in a consciously dishonest way. That...hearer to think he means something quite different." The corruption climaxed with the Iran-Contra scandal. It marked the logical conclusion of the post-189o...

...we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of régime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might...hearer to think he means something quite different. Statements like Marshal Pétain was a true patriot, The Soviet Press is the freest in the world, The...

...justice, have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is...allows his hearer to think he means something quite different.16 What to say about Orwell's lament? It is surely hard to dispute. Everybody pays at least...