The Language Perfectionist: Is This Usage Brilliant or Dim?
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Last year, a kerfuffle erupted over Sen. Joseph Biden’s presumably well-intentioned characterization of Sen. Barack Obama, against whom he was then competing for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Well, he did win the consolation prize a week ago.)
Sen. Biden called Sen. Obama “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
The controversy focused on the words “clean” and “articulate.” Biden claimed that his use of the word clean was taken out of context. Said Biden, “My mother has an expression: clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack.” Okay, maybe we can accept that. But the fact remains that many blacks perceive the word articulate as patronizing. Noted one commentator: “Black people get a little testy when white people call them ‘articulate.’”
Yet, in all the verbiage about the incident, I couldn’t find anyone who noted another problematic word in Sen. Biden’s statement: bright.
More than two decades ago, language guru William Safire observed: “When applied to a child, the word is unfailingly upbeat… but when applied to an adult, bright carries a subtle put-down.” The connotation, echoing the luminescent metaphor, is “less than brilliant.”
Because of the word’s condescending implications, one writer advised that it never be used to describe anyone over the age of 12. Even if you’re not running for elective office, this is a good rule to observe.
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
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