Nowadays it's more and more common to think and talk about politics. I try to "maintain an even strain," as the test pilots used to say, but the outrage is seductive in its own way, and you don't have to look very hard to find "outrage porn" in any and all corners of the Internet. (Except, I would hope, on my Facebook page.)
I noted there, however, a few phrases that seem to have entered the lexicon during Trump's administration, specifically "double down," and "walk back." English, like any spoken language, is very efficient in some ways, and one is that we don't just invent words for the hell of it. If there's a strong enough need to communicate something, then someone will eventually coin a phrase. "Double down" is one such phrase. It's as if my dedication and loyalty to my previous dumb/outrageous statement will somehow shore up its integrity. Trump does this a lot, since he never admits to being wrong.
But sometimes, when you're wrong, you just have to resign yourself to "walking back" the thing. Best done by a third party. No admission of guilt or error. Simply a reality splice in the matrix. Nothing to see here.
Politics are a major reason why I deactivated my Facebook account. But there are other reasons, such as remnants of my old social life, and the addictive toxicity of the whole thing in general.
ReplyDelete"Double down" is from gambling. I wonder if "walk back" is from sports. Sounds to me like something someone would do in between downs at a football game, or something, I don't know.
But I feel blessed to be relatively free of political discussion. Not having Facebook means I read a lot more news, but there's no one to talk to about it, and when my rage subsides I can just move on without having contributed to some conversation that will come back and demand more of my attention. Also, last night I tuned in to the VP debate and all I had to do was hear Pence go ao great lengths to not answer a question and I was disgusted and turned it off again. Aaah.
I always imagined that "walk back" was what you did when you "trotted out" some idea and it proved to be so provocative or unpopular that you needed to undo it -- walk it back.
ReplyDeleteI know the term double-down is from Blackjack, but I feel like its use has sort of morphed, or never was exactly appropriate, like a lot of these co-opted phrases. To me, when a politician is called out on an outrageous statement but then sticks to it, the right phrase might be "brazen it out," where "double-down" implies you have a good hand and a chance to capitalize on it. Sort of. Anyway.
You got a more robust digestive system than I do, for even beginning to watch the debate, although I have to say I wish I had seen the fly.
Agree that political discourse sometimes leads to ego-defending, which is generally a lot of energy expended for very little gain, in the end.