In my latest column for the Visual Thesaurus, published today, I consider some buzzwords and catchphrases of the current U.S. presidential campaign, which is entering the general-election phase. It’s the first of two columns, organized alphabetically, so if you don’t see one of your favorite words or phrases, check back in a week or so. (Update: Here’s Part 2.)
Here’s an excerpt from this week’s installment.
Forward. The Obama campaign's slogan — “Forward” — made its debut in late April. Pundits immediately parsed it as if it were the Rosetta Stone. Buzzfeed claimed the slogan was borrowed from the left-ish news channel MSNBC (“Lean Forward”); Slate saw a connection with a 2005 slogan used by Britain's Labour Party (“Forward, Not Back”). Other observers pointed to the centrist Israeli political party Kadimah (which means “forward” in Hebrew), to old Soviet slogans, and to the Jewish Daily Forward, which launched in New York in 1897 as a Yiddish-language newspaper and led many fights for social justice. The slogan also revived an old Democrats vs. Republicans joke: “If you want the car to go forward, put it in D; if you want to go backward, put it in R.”
Read the rest of “Campaign Lingo 2012.”
Flashback: Read my 2008 campaign-lingo column for the Visual Thesaurus!
The slogan/concept "Forward" has a long tradition in - hate to bring it up - the Communist tradition.
Many radical lefitst publications (key word: radical)have used it in titles (naturally, in multiple langages, eg. V'pered in Russian, Vorwaerts in German, Naprzod in Polish).
Communist parties all of the world have used in names of programs and in slogans - from the Soviet Bloc to China (The Great Leap Forward).
Posted by: Paul M | May 24, 2012 at 12:27 PM