Watch How Opaque Jargon Becomes Transparent Nonsense

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Watch How Opaque Jargon Becomes Transparent Nonsense 11 July 2003

"Spain's Muslims say that after decades of keeping their faith quiet in a predominantly Roman Catholic country, they are growing in both numbers and transparency."

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Maybe this passage is the precise turning point, O lexicographers? Up until just yesterday "grow in transparency" could only mean what old soldiers do instead of dying, but this journalist must wish it to signify "grow in visibility."

Are there any exact parallels for this remarkable semantic fiasco, other cases where literal X1 becomes figurative X2 becomes literal X3, and X3 is then the very opposite of the original X1?

AGKB. Happy days. --JHM

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Watch How Opaque Jargon Becomes Transparent Nonsense 11 July 2003 "Spain's Muslims say that after decades of keeping their faith ... where literal X1 becomes figurative X2 becomes literal X3, and X3 is then the very opposite of the original X1?[/nq]
That whole article is a hodge-podge of half-truths and irrelevant rubbish, such as:

The mosque property was purchased with Libyan money in 1981, six years after the death of Gen. Francisco Franco.

The journalist is presumably an alumnus of the Drag-The-Autocratic- Tyrant-In school of sexing up dull stories, shoehorning both Gaddafi and Franco into a piece about a socio-religious initiative by and for non-Arab and non-Arabic-speaking Muslims in the pretty but ultimately rather ordinary European city where I live.

The real story of that mosque is actually a lot more bizarre and interesing than the Guardian would have us believe; having far more to do with the idiosyncracies of Hillary Clinton's sweat glands than any post-Franco plotting by Muammar the Mad -- but I'm afraid you'll have to look for it elsewhere, since this group is officially no longer an appropriate forum for such substance-free tittle-tattle.

Ross Howard -------------------- (Kick *** for e-mail)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Watch How Opaque Jargon Becomes Transparent Nonsense 11 July 2003 ... X3 is then the very opposite of the original X1?[/nq]
[nq:1]That whole article is a hodge-podge of half-truths and irrelevant rubbish, such as: The mosque property was purchased with Libyan ... have to look for it elsewhere, since this group is officially no longer an appropriate forum for such substance-free tittle-tattle.[/nq]
Spoilsport. So where are we to go for substance-free tittle-tattle now?

Here something substantial you can talk about, while passing on whatever salacious gossip you can think up: I have read an exchange on another newsgroup suggesting that Franco was not a fascist, but just a patriotic Spaniard trying to save Spain from the Communist hordes. Is "fascist" an appropriate term for Franco's followers in Spain during the Civil War?

Fran

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2] That whole article is a hodge-podge of half-truths and ... officially no longer an appropriate forum for such substance-free tittle-tattle.[/nq]
[nq:1]Spoilsport. So where are we to go for substance-free tittle-tattle now? Here something substantial you can talk about, while passing ... save Spain from the Communist hordes. Is "fascist" an appropriate term for Franco's followers in Spain during the Civil War?[/nq]
In that the Falangists were the Spanish version of the Mussolini- and Mosley-style blackshirt movements in the late '20s and '30s, and Franco was just an opportunistic soldier who exploited both that movement on the one hand and traditional Catholic interests on the other in order to install himself in power as the "saviour of true Western culture". His regime had a few smatterings of institutionalised fascism -- a single, nationalised trade-union movement, for instance -- but the basic idea was just to sit there and run the show for a decade or five. In his later years he threw as many fish to the democrats as he had to the fascists in the '30s and '40s, because it was politically expedient to do so.

So, to actually answer your questuon, although many of Franco's followers during the Civil War, such as the Falange Española and the JONS (which later merged), were indeed literally card-carrying fascists, he also soaked up support from many other quarters and lobbies like a sponge, not much caring about the glaring inconsistencies between their agendas, including the traditional Church, de facto feudal landowners, and the authoritarian but basically apolitical wing of the armed forces from which he himself emerged.

The real leader of the Spanish fascists, though, was not Franco but José Antonio Primo de Rivera, who was rather conveniently killed during the Civil War. His image was then substantially distorted by Franco and sold to the Spaniards as a martyr to the cause of Virgin-adoring, Commie-hating True Spanishness.

Ross Howard -------------------- (Kick *** for e-mail)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1] a piece about a socio-religious initiative by and for non-Arab and non-Arabic-speaking Muslims in the pretty but ultimately rather ordinary European city where I live. [/nq]
Do I detect that you're watching your back?

Gharnata is a once-and-future Muslim city. Its Muslim denizens in its Muslim heyday were mostly non-Arabs, even back then. The people you are disparaging are quite possibly their direct descendants.

Preserving the Umayyad monuments was the city fathers' first mistake. Things are brewing. Get ready.

\P. Schultz

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Watch How Opaque Jargon Becomes Transparent Nonsense 11 July 2003 "Spain's Muslims say that after decades of keeping their faith ... where literal X1 becomes figurative X2 becomes literal X3, and X3 is then the very opposite of the original X1?[/nq]
Yes.

Facilitate.

In the 1960s, "facilitator" became a fashionable word for "teacher", especially in small group learning.

It was intended to get away from the authoritarian connotatios of "group leader", or the "teacher tell" connotations of the word teacher. So the group leader was called a "facilitator", to remind them and the other group members that their task was not to tell the group what was what, but to help them to discover things for themselves by making suggestions if they got stuck, or get them back on track if they were side tracked.

This was based on the literal meaning of facilitate - the task of the facilitator was not to tell people what was what, but to make it easier for them to discover it for themselves.

After a few years, however, people who did not know this background began to use "facilitator" for any kind of group leader.

A few years ago I heard of a "task group" within a university that had been set up to "facilitate conflict". This was announced to a group of editors, and the person making the announcemnt was genuinely puzzled by the hilarity it provoked.

The same kind of motivation lies behind the current fashion for speaking of "learners" rather than "pupils" or "students". It is intended to remind teachers that the excuse "we taught them that but they didn't learn it" is not good enough. But if used too much it loses its impact.
-- Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

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A similar change is already active when referring to government you can google for and find

making government more transparent and accountable

there were 1240 hits for "government more transparent"

-- -- Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also. --

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2] a piece about a socio-religious initiative by and for ... but ultimately rather ordinary European city where I live. [/nq]
[nq:1]Do I detect that you're watching your back? Gharnata is a once-and-future Muslim city. Its Muslim denizens in its Muslim heyday were mostly non-Arabs, even back then. The people you are disparaging are quite possibly their direct descendants.[/nq]
Oy! I'm disparaging nobody, especially since my wife and most of my friends are among the direct descendants you refer to, while most of the people behind the Albaicin mosque project are American, European and non-Andalusian Spanish converts to Islam.

Ross Howard -- (Kick *** for e-mail)

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