Geoffrey Nunberg: The Semantics of Torture
Commonwealth Club - The Commonwealth Club of California
Language can inspire and move people. But it can also deceive and deflect. Our new president has often been praised for his ability to use language, while our former president was accused by opponents of "linguistic trickery."Linguistic Professor Geoffrey Nunberg takes a closer look at our nation's political and social discourse over the past several years, revealing what it says about us.