Why do politicians talk like that?

With the midterms approaching, politicians are out in full force to convince voters to elect them. And that means that we’re hearing a lot of “politician speak.” You know it when you hear it: those folksy turns of phrase, the vague promises.
But what do linguists have to say about this vocal register (sciencefriday.com/segments/politician-talk)? How has politician speak changed over time? Does the way someone pronounces their As signal something about their values? Sociolinguist Valerie Fridland joins Flora to decode politician speak.
Guest:
Dr. Valerie Fridland is a professor of linguistics at University of Nevada, Reno.
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com/segments/politician-talk.

Subscribe to this podcast. (pod.link/73329284) Follow our show on Instagram (instagram.com/scifri), TikTok (tiktok.com/@scifri), Facebook (facebook.com/scifri), and Bluesky (bsky.app/profile/scifri.bsky.social) @scifri and sign up for our newsletters (sciencefriday.com/newsletters/?utm_source=wnyc…). Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.