Chuck McCutcheon’s new book, Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs & Washington Handshakes, started with a single word: “disingenuous.” After nearly two decades covering Capitol Hill, says McCutcheon, he realized that the term had a different meaning in politics than it does in the real world.
“It’s the polite way to call someone a liar,” McCutcheon, co-author of National Journal’s Almanac of American Politics, said at a book signing at Politics and Prose last Saturday. “Not just a liar, but an especially clueless and out-of-touch liar.”
The realization led him to team up with former Politico senior editor David Mark, now editor-in-chief of the website Politix, on a translation guide for a political jargon that can feel a lot like a foreign language. “It took about four months of interviewing dozens of people for their favorite terms and definitions,” says McCutcheon.
As Washington-speak evolves, McCutcheon and Mark will continue to add to their collection of terms and phrases via their website and on Twitter (@ChuckMcCutcheon). In the meantime, here are some of our favorites, excerpted* from the book:
I’m just raising the question: A way of bringing up negative, even conspiratorial, information about an opponent without looking like the bad guy.
I’m sorry if I offended anyone: A classic non-apology apology that makes it clear the public figure is sorry for being caught, not for what he or she actually said.
I want to spend more time with my family: One of the most pervasive euphemisms in the government and business worlds, it’s the lame excuse when someone doesn’t want to provide the real reason for departing a job.
Grownups: The description of serious legislators who would rather accomplish something than gain publicity.
Wing nut: A lawmaker or activist known more for his or her proclivity for making outrageous statements than for accomplishing much legislatively.
Nontroversy: A conflation of “non” and “controversy” to describe an incident or utterance that’s seen as wholly undeserving of any fuss.
Not in a position to: A willfully ignorant phrase by a media spinner to deny knowledge on a subject they could reasonably be expected to discuss. It’s a press secretary’s way of painting him/herself as a cog in a larger machine, to deflect giving a straightforward answer.
Chuck McCutcheon’s New Book Aims to Define the Language of Politics
Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs & Washington Handshakes explains what politicians are really saying.
Chuck McCutcheon’s new book, Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs & Washington Handshakes, started with a single word: “disingenuous.” After nearly two decades covering Capitol Hill, says McCutcheon, he realized that the term had a different meaning in politics than it does in the real world.
“It’s the polite way to call someone a liar,” McCutcheon, co-author of National Journal’s Almanac of American Politics, said at a book signing at Politics and Prose last Saturday. “Not just a liar, but an especially clueless and out-of-touch liar.”
The realization led him to team up with former Politico senior editor David Mark, now editor-in-chief of the website Politix, on a translation guide for a political jargon that can feel a lot like a foreign language. “It took about four months of interviewing dozens of people for their favorite terms and definitions,” says McCutcheon.
As Washington-speak evolves, McCutcheon and Mark will continue to add to their collection of terms and phrases via their website and on Twitter (@ChuckMcCutcheon). In the meantime, here are some of our favorites, excerpted* from the book:
I’m just raising the question: A way of bringing up negative, even conspiratorial, information about an opponent without looking like the bad guy.
I’m sorry if I offended anyone: A classic non-apology apology that makes it clear the public figure is sorry for being caught, not for what he or she actually said.
I want to spend more time with my family: One of the most pervasive euphemisms in the government and business worlds, it’s the lame excuse when someone doesn’t want to provide the real reason for departing a job.
Grownups: The description of serious legislators who would rather accomplish something than gain publicity.
Wing nut: A lawmaker or activist known more for his or her proclivity for making outrageous statements than for accomplishing much legislatively.
Nontroversy: A conflation of “non” and “controversy” to describe an incident or utterance that’s seen as wholly undeserving of any fuss.
Not in a position to: A willfully ignorant phrase by a media spinner to deny knowledge on a subject they could reasonably be expected to discuss. It’s a press secretary’s way of painting him/herself as a cog in a larger machine, to deflect giving a straightforward answer.
*Excerpted from Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs & Washington Handshakes: Decoding the Jargon, Slang, and Bluster of America Political Speech by Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark. Published by ForeEdge, an imprint of University Press of New England.
Most Popular in News & Politics
The “MAGA Former Dancer” Named to a Top Job at the Kennedy Center Inherits a Troubled Program
Sandwich Guy Has Become DC’s Hero
We’re Calling It Now: Sandwich Guy Is the DC Halloween Costume of the Year
In Wild Coincidence, White House Drowns Out Epstein Rally With Jets; Tech Titans Will Gather on Rose Garden Patio Tonight; and Madison Cawthorn Hopes to Return to DC
These Confusing Bands Aren’t Actually From DC
Washingtonian Magazine
September Issue: Style Setters
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
These Confusing Bands Aren’t Actually From DC
11 Fall Book Sales in the DC Area You Won’t Want to Miss
Fiona Apple Wrote a Song About This Maryland Court-Watching Effort
The Confusing Dispute Over the Future of the Anacostia Playhouse
More from News & Politics
White House Seriously Asks People to Believe Trump’s Letter to Epstein Is Fake, Oliver North and Fawn Hall Got Married, and It’s Time to Plan Your Apple-Picking Excursion
Meet DC’s 2025 Tech Titans
“End the Occupation”: Photos From Saturday’s “We Are All DC” March
Scott Bessent Got in Another Argument With a Coworker; Trump Threatens Chicago, Gets Booed in New York; and Our Critic Has an Early Report From Kayu
Congress Won’t Extend Trump’s Takeover of the DC Police, Norton Reiterates Plans to Run Again, and the Commanders’ New Season Starts Sunday
Why Trump Should Not Dine Out in DC
DC Sues Trump Administration Over Deployment of National Guard Troops
In Wild Coincidence, White House Drowns Out Epstein Rally With Jets; Tech Titans Will Gather on Rose Garden Patio Tonight; and Madison Cawthorn Hopes to Return to DC