The events of the past week provide all kinds of interesting examples of how
important it is to use the right words.

I just saw Bush in a joint interview with Chirac, President of France.  Chirac said
clearly that he would not use the word "war" to describe the conflict we are now
in. It is interesting that Bush didn't use it either.  Why might some people avoid
the term war?

The best example of word choice is crusade.  Apparently, Bush recently talked about
the need for a "crusade" against those how carried out the events of September 11.
Almost immediately Muslim countries in the Middle East reacted against that
formulation.  If I were teaching the right course, I might want to bring up whether
"crusade" is the appropriate word to describe the struggle we are in.  What is its
original meaning?  Is the avoidance of crusade in these circumstances a kind of
"political correctness"?  Can Americans use the word crusade to describe the
campaign against terrorism?

It might be interesting to consider whether it is appropriate for the leader of the
US to say we want Ben Ladin "dead or alive."

Of course, there are wonderful examples of speeches and interviews with Bush,
Powell, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Guiliani, etc. to consider.  What did these people say
about the events?  Which  of these people seemed to inspire the most confidence?
Why?  All these people have been saying about the same things, but some seemed more
successful than others.  What were the characteristics of the language that was
used which seemed to inspire more confidence?

All of these are wonderful question about language which the tragic events of the
past week raise.

Bob Yates, Central Missouri State University

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