Sideswipe: March 24: Nice news co-ordination outfit

Lowering the standard of acceptability

Speaking daily on the global coronavirus pandemic, Trump has incessantly called Covid-19 the "Chinese virus", with one photo even showing his notes in which he had crossed out clinical terms preferred by health professionals. Cue eye roll or dismissal, but his words are very deliberate and strategic. Philosopher Lynne Tirrell says words don't go negative just through frequency of use in a negative context. Conversation is a joint activity which needs listeners to react, by accepting or resisting what's said. When Trump says "Syrian refugees are snakes", he is likewise drawing on suggestive qualities about snakes that allow his listeners to infer certain negative ideas about an entire people, and by extension, other immigrants and refugees. Trump initially left people horrified by his offensive statements. But as time went on, they came to enjoy and absorb it ... Each repetition of an outrageous speech act makes the next one less of a surprise, until such speech becomes common enough to seem "normal", lowering the standard of acceptability. (Via daily.jstor.org)

Useful Cockney rhyming slang

1. Pete Tong (wrong)

2. Barney Rubble (trouble)

3. Bob Hope (soap)

4. Miley Cyrus (coronavirus)

5. Charlie Sheen (quarantine)

6. Donald Trump (elbow bump)

7. Cheryl Cole (toilet roll)

(Via @adamCsharp)

Did you know…

1. That introverts like to live in mountainous, wooded areas, and extroverts prefer to live on flat, open terrain.

2. In 1999, a gang of thieves was forced to do community service along a road in Rotherham. The next spring the daffodils coming into bloom spelt out the words "shag" and "bollocks".

3. During the 1956 Olympic torch relay, a student tricked people into thinking he was the Olympic torch holder by running with a wooden chair leg topped with his flaming underpants. He managed to hand it to the mayor of Sydney who gave a speech while holding it. (Via @qikipedia)