Finally, a translator...

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, one of the editors of The Nation magazine, recently wrote this article about the Republican party's use of doublespeak. Readers of the magazine submitted their own mock translations of some popular buzz phrases. A few of my favorites:

bankruptcy n. A punishable crime when committed by poor people but not corporations

class warfare n. Any attempt to raise the minimum wage

honesty n. Lies told in simple declarative sentences--e.g., "Freedom is on the march"

laziness n. When the poor are not working

leisure time n. When the wealthy are not working

On a note related to the "class warfare" definition, I came across a post by Molly Ivins on AlterNet entitled Stupidity, Survived that discusses the tired old idea that the minimum wage might not be high enough. Geez, when will those stinking liberals stop trying to give handouts to people that simply aren't working hard enough?