INTRO: Wordmasters Avi Arditti and Rosanne Skirble put some humor into the obsure — and often misunderstood — language of official Washington with guidance from a popular American comedian.

AA: George Carlin can say some outrageous things — years ago the US Supreme Court found his "seven filthy words" monolgue "indecent."

RS: But when he stopped at the National Press Club in Washington not long ago, George Carlin had other words to say.

TAPE: CUT ONE — CARLIN

"I'm not here to advance any political, social or environmental cause. I am, in fact, blessedly agenda-free. I don't want to save the river. I don't want to save the bay. I don't want to save the canyon, the whale, the wetlands, the rainforest, or the flying, spotted dwarf something-or-other. I don't want to save the children, above all. (laughter & Applause) frankly, I don't care about many of those things. Between you and me, those battles were lost a long time ago."

RS: Dressed in black with his hair in a pony tail, George Carlin kept the Washington press corps — including VOA's Keming Kuo — laughing with his observations on how the politicians and lawyers in Washington speak.

AA: He says they use a lot of obscure terms and phrases to avoid saying anything substantive.

TAPE: CUT TWO — CARLIN

"They don't actually say things. They indicate them: 'as I indicated yesterday, and as the president indicated to me . . . ' Sometimes they don't indicate; they suggest: 'let me suggest, as I indicated yesterday . . . I haven't determined that yet.' They don't decide; they determine. If it's a really serious matter, they Make a judgment: 'I haven't made a judgment on that. When the hearings have concluded, I will Make a judgment or I might Make an assessment. I'm not sure; I haven't determined that yet. But when I do, I'll advise you. ' They don't tell, they advise: 'I advised him that I had made a judgment. Thus far, he hasn't responded. ' They don't answer; they respond: 'he hasn't responded to my intiative . . . ' An initiative is an idea that isn't going anywhere." [laughter]

RS: George Carlin added that when legislation is delayed or a project is taking too long, some more terms come into use:

TAPE: CUT THREE — CARLIN

"That's a big activity in Washington: proceeding. They're always proceeding or moving forward. A lot of that goes on: 'Senator, have you solved that problem. Well, we're moving forward on that. ' And when they're not moving forward, they're moving something else forward . . . Such as the process: 'We have to move the process forward so we can implement the provisions of the initiative in order to meet these challenges. ' No one has problems anymore. Challenges. That's why we need people who can make the tough decisions. Tough decisions like: 'How much soft money can I expect to collect in exchange for my core values?'"

AA: George Carlin says political scandal or wrongdoing calls for yet another set of euphemisms.

TAPE: CUT FOUR — CARLIN

"When they're in trouble, their explanations usually begin simply with words like miscommunication: 'What did you do wrong, senator? Well, it was a miscommunication.' Or: 'I was quoted out of context. ' Better yet, and more ironic: 'They twisted my words.' Such a nice touch. A person who routinely spends his days torturing the language complains, 'they twisted my words.' [laughter] Then, as the controversy continues to heat up, he moves to his next level of complaint: 'The whole thing has been blown out of proportion. ' It's always the whole thing. Apparently no one has ever claimed that a small portion of something was blown out of proportion. It has to be the whole thing."

RS: That's comedian George Carlin, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington. He was in town promoting the paperback edition of his book "Brain Droppings," a collection of humorous euphemisms.

AA: You can listen to Wordmaster each week at this same time. We welcome your questions or comments. Our e-mail address is word@voa.gov. And our postal address is VOA Wordmaster, Washington DC 29547 USA.

RS: With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

詞匯點津：

今天的詞匯大師是美國著名喜劇演員George Carlin，他向我們講解了美國政壇和法律中的常用詞匯。

美國政治和法律用語的一大特點就是：obscure 抽象，模糊

這些政壇高手一般不用“表明”等詞匯，而是用indicate或suggest

他們不用decide，而用determine，或用make a judgment / make an assessment

他們不用tell 告訴，而用advise 建議

他們不用answer 回答，而用respond 回復

此外，他們總是自稱“正在運行中”：They're always proceeding or moving forward.

如果出了什么問題，那么一定會歸根到miscommunication 溝通不良，如：

be quoted out of

twist

be blown out of proportion

此外大師還提到了a pony tail你知道這是什么嗎？記住這是女孩子梳得高高馬尾辮

今天的詞匯大師你學會了嗎？