15 NOV 11

"Better dead than red"

The premier political saying in the days I was growing up.
Russians were "Reds."
The Chinese were "Red."
Red was the color used to designate enemy forces on maps.
Blue was us.
Blue was the color designation for our own forces.
A commander's nightmare was always a "Blue on Blue Incident."
Red was left.
Blue was right.
My question: How did liberals become the blue folks, while conservatives became red?
That flip-flops the learned political history of this country and sets up the left (now blue) to be the de facto good guys in the new narrative.
Words have weight and power to influence thinking.
I'm a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to language.
I don't like the use of "associate" in lieu of "clerk" or "cashier."
Cannot figure out how a "sale" became an "event."
Don't know why cars are now "pre-owned" instead of used.
The kids are giving new meanings to old words too.
My grandson described the movie, "Captain America," as being "sick!"
"Sick" is a good thing to be, I guess.
Sorry if I bore you... just an old man ranting.

-Fini

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From the "Army Security Agency Open Discussion" facebook Page
 A posting from Bob Roth:
Origin of Left & Right, or why it is that Conservatives are called the "right" and Liberals are called the "left."
By chance I stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left." Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

Spelling Lesson:
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican.......I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
-- End of lesson --
Test to follow in November, 2012.

Remember, November is to be set aside as rodent extermination month.