This is more of a linguistic entry than a political one.

[raincrystal]

Today, on Livejournal, Punni asked why "all of her friends hate Bush." Also, magi linked to this article, which is rather scary (and you should all read it.) The two things have me thinking a lot about people, politics, and verbal shortcuts

Comments

[chime]

Having taught Japanese middle-schoolers for a couple months, I've realized that it's really annoying how English lacks a simple word that is the opposite of 'like.' Hate kind of moves in to fill the void.

It's hard to explain that "don't like" usually means dislike, instead of simply "don't feel the feeling 'like' for." And "dislike," while it has the proper meaning, is a less simple word that people don't use very often.

[raincrystal]

Another problem with "dislike" is that it's so formal, and most people, when they are complaining about some politician, aren't being formal. Unless one is consciously trying to be specific, one doesn't think to use it.

[litagemini]

That article is really interesting.

How do we know it's true?

[raincrystal]

We don't. As she points out in her next entry, this is the internet and we have no way of knowing whether to believe her, and she has no way of proving it's true. But that seems to be irrelevant to both her point and mine-- her point was "please be careful," while my point was "language can get in your way."

[litagemini]

True in both counts.