EDITORIAL NOTEBOOK: Zero Tolerance for 'Tolerance'

I hate tolerance.

Wait! Come back! I'm not going to be offensive. It's not the concept I hate--it's the word.

Before we all got into this new terminology, before we all joined the Buzzword of the Month Club, tolerance meant something.

Regardless of the dictionary definition, the word "tolerance" commonly connotes putting up with something.

You figure it out. Racial tolerance. Ethnic tolerance. Tolerance of different sexual orientations.

Thanks so much for putting up with me.

Who picks these words anyway? What genius paired "racial" and "tolerance" and decided together they could be a political catchphrase?

Nationally syndicated columnist Dave Barry has his Mr. Language Person. Well, at this very moment I am pleased to announce the arrival of the Gender-Neutral Honorific Buzzword Arbiter (GNHBA). Yes, folks, right here on The Crimson's Editorial page. Ask away.

Q: Isn't it possible that some people are just tolerating others?

GNHBA: Sure, maybe some people are tolerating others. But one usually "tolerates" 9 a.m. classes or bad restaurant service. I think it's a safe bet that the majority of the people who use this word are doing more than just tolerating whatever the "issue" is. (There's another stupid word.)

Q: What other language problems have you noticed?

GNHBA: That Yale guy, George W., seems to be pretty fond of the passive voice. That's how you can tell he's the Republican front-runner for the presidential nomination.

Yesterday the Washington Post quoted him as saying, "When you're the front-runner, you get fun poked at you."

Gee, George, who do you think would be mean enough to do that? The American people, maybe? Don't want to say that to the press, huh?

The Post also reported: "Bush has emphasized that his presidency would be a categorical rejection of isolationists in both parties."

"America must seize the moment," the Post quoted him saying. "It is a world of madmen; it is a world of terror."

People who just throw around words like "madmen" without thinking make us very angry. In this case, George seemed to be referring to the world in general, and specifically foreign countries. Good job, George. Create xenophobia.

Q: What do you think about the word "exotic?" Does that bother you at all?

GNHBA: I think the word "exotic" should be obliterated from the English language forever. Exotic leads to "exoticization." Which is bad.

Q: What do you see happening to the future of political language?

GNHBA: Pretty soon, if we're lucky, we can all talk in words that mean nothing. Gibberish. Pig Latin. I was pretty good at Pig Latin. Ix-nay on the olerance-tay, people. At this rate, I could have a political career too.