I'm Elise Hugh. It's TED Talks Daily. Had the debate in Congress gone another way,

America's first president, George Washington, could be referred to as His Highness, George Washington,

or first magistrate George Washington. Really? It's an example of how words carry so much meaning

in politics and for political leaders.

Etymologist Mark Forsyth lays out in his 2012 archive talk from TEDx Houses of Parliament,

the power and meaning of political speech and what we can learn from how those meanings change.

One of my favorite words in the whole of the Oxford English Dictionary is Snolligoster, just because

it sounds so good. And what Snolligoster means is a dishonest politician, although there was a

19th century newspaper who defined it rather better. A Snolligoster is a fellow who seeks office regardless of party,

platform or principle, and who when he wins, gets there by the sheer force of monumental

talknoffical assumnacy. Now, I've no idea what talknoffical is, something to do with words, I assume,

but it's very important that words are the centre of politics,

and all politicians know they have to try and control language.

It wasn't until, for example, 1771 that the British Parliament allowed newspapers to report

the exact words that were said in the debating chamber.

But to really show you how

words and politics interact, I want to take you back to the United States of America just after

they'd achieved independence. And they had to face the question of what to call George Washington,

their leader. They didn't know. What do you call the leader of a Republican

country? And this was debated in Congress for ages and ages, and there were all sorts of

suggestions on the table which might have made it. I mean, some people wanted him to be called

chief magistrate Washington and other people, His Highness George Washington, and other people,

...