Mark Forsyth: What's a snollygoster? A short lesson in political speak

Translator: Morton Bast Reviewer: Thu-Huong Ha

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Ivana Korom

One of my favorite words in the whole of the Oxford English Dictionary

Jedna od mojih omiljenih reči u okfordskom rečniku

engleskog jezika je "snollygoster".

is "snollygoster,"

just because it sounds so good.

Zato što zvuči tako dobro.

Značenje reči snoligoster je

And what snollygoster means is "a dishonest politician."

neiskren političar.

Although there was a 19th-century newspaper editor

Međutim, postojao je u 19. veku

who defined it rather better when he said,

urednik novina koji ju je definisao još bolje, rekavši:

"A snollygoster is a fellow who seeks office

"Snoligoster je osoba koja traži fotelju

regardless of party, platform or principle,

bez obzira na stranku, ideologiju ili principe,

and who, when he wins,

i koja, kada pobedi,

gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnancy."

zadržava mesto pukom snagom

ogromnog ludog filozofiranja."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Now, I have no idea what "talknophical" is.

Nemam pojma šta znači "talknophical".

Something to do with words, I assume.

Ima veze s rečima, pretpostavljam.

But it's very important that words are at the center of politics,

Ali je veoma važno da su reči u centru politike,

i svi političari znaju da moraju da kontrolišu jezik.

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

It wasn't until, for example, 1771

Na primer sve do 1771.

that the British Parliament allowed newspapers to report

britanski parlament nije dozvoljavao novinama da prenesu

the exact words that were said in the debating chamber.

tačne reči koje su izgovorene u debatnoj sali.

And this was actually all down to the bravery

I sve se svodilo na hrabrost

čoveka neobičnog imena, Bras Krozbi,

of a guy with the extraordinary name of Brass Crosby,

who took on Parliament.

koji se suprotstavio Parlamentu.

And he was thrown into the Tower of London

I bio je bačen u tamnicu Londonske kule

i zatočen,

and imprisoned,

ali je bio dovoljno hrabar,

but he was brave enough,

dovoljno hrabar da im se suprotstavi,

he was brave enough to take them on, and in the end,

i na kraju, imao je toliku podršku građana Londona da je pobedio.

he had such popular support in London that he won.

And it was only a few years later

Nekoliko godina kasnije,

that we have the first recorded use of the phrase "as bold as brass."

imamo prvu zabeleženu upotrebu fraze

"hrabar kao mesing (bras)".

Većina ljudi misli da se radi o metalu.

Most people think that's down to the metal.

It's not; it's down to a campaigner for the freedom of the press.

Ali to nije tačno.

Radi se o borcu za slobodu štampe.

But to really show you how words and politics interact,

Kako bih vam zaista pokazao

kako međusobno deluju reči i politika,

želim da vas odvedem natrag u SAD

I want to take you back to the United States of America,

just after they'd achieved independence.

nakon dobijanja nezavisnosti.

And they had to face the question

Morali su da se suoče sa pitanjem

of what to call George Washington, their leader.

kako zvati Džordža Vašingtona, njihovog vođu.

They didn't know.

Nisu znali.

What do you call the leader of a republican country?

Kako zvati vođu republikanske države?

And this was debated in Congress for ages and ages.

O ovome se dugo vodila debata u Kongresu.

And there were all sorts of suggestions on the table,

I bilo je raznoraznih predloga u igri,

koji su mogli biti prihvaćeni.

which might have made it.

I mean, some people wanted him to be called

Neki su želeli da ga zovu

"Chief Magistrate Washington,"

Glavni magistrat Vašington,

and other people, "His Highness, George Washington,"

a drugi, Njegovo visočanstvo Džordž Vašington,

and other people,

a neki, Zaštitnik sloboda naroda SAD Vašington.

"Protector of the Liberties

of the People of the United States of America Washington."

Not that catchy.

Nije tako zvučno.

Some people just wanted to call him king --

Neki ljudi su prosto želeli da ga zovu kraljem.

it was tried and tested.

Mislili su da se to pokazalo dobrim.

They weren't even being monarchical,

To čak nije bilo monarhijski,

they had the idea that you could be elected king for a fixed term.

mislili su da možete biti

izabrani za kralja na određeno vreme.

And, you know, it could have worked.

Da znate, moglo je da upali.

And everybody got insanely bored,

Svi su poludeli od dosade, zapravo,

because this debate went on for three weeks.

jer je ova rasprava trajala tri nedelje.

I read a diary of this poor senator who just keeps coming back,

Čitao sam dnevnik jednog jadnog senatora,

"Still on this subject."

koji je sve vreme ponavljao: "Još uvek ista tema."

And the reason for the delay and the boredom

A razlog odlaganja i dosade je taj

was that the House of Representatives were against the Senate.

da je Predstavnički dom bio protiv Senata.

The House of Representatives didn't want Washington to get drunk on power.

Predstavnički dom nije želeo da Vašingtona

obuzme moć.

They didn't want to call him "king," in case that gave him ideas,

Nisu želeli da ga zovu kraljem

za slučaj da njemu ili njegovim naslednicima nešto padne napamet.

or his successor ideas.

So they wanted to give him the humblest, meagerest,

Te su hteli da mu daju najponizniju, najoskudniju,

most pathetic title that they could think of.

najpatetičniju titulu koju su mogli da smisle.

And that title ...

I ta titula je bila "predsednik".

was "President."

(Laughter)

"President." They didn't invent the title.

Predsednik. Nisu izmislili titulu, ona je već postojala,

I mean, it existed before,

but it just meant somebody who presides over a meeting.

ali je označavala nekog ko predsedava sastankom.

It was like the foreman of the jury.

Nešto kao glavni sudija.

And it didn't have much more grandeur

A nije ni imala veću grandioznost

than the term "foreman" or "overseer."

od termina "glavni" ili "nadležni".

There were occasional presidents of little colonial councils

Postojali su retki predsednici malih kolonijalnih saveta

and bits of government,

i delova vlasti, ali zapravo nije bila nikakva titula.

but it was really a nothing title.

Zato se Senat pobunio protiv toga.

And that's why the Senate objected to it.

They said, "That's ridiculous! You can't call him 'President.'

Rekli su: "To je smešno, ne možete ga zvati predsednikom!"

"Ovaj čovek treba da potpisuje sporazume i sastaje se stranim velikodostojnicima."

This guy has to go and sign treaties and meet foreign dignitaries.

Who's going to take him seriously if he's got a silly little title

I ko će ga shvatiti ozbiljno

ako ima malu smešnu titulu

kao što je predsednik SAD?

like 'President of the United States of America'?"

(Laughter)

And after three weeks of debate, in the end,

Posle tronedeljne rasprave, na kraju

the Senate did not cave in.

Senat nije popustio.

Instead, they agreed to use the title "President" for now.

Umesto toga, pristali su da koriste titulu presednika, za sada,

But they also wanted it absolutely set down

ali su želeli da se zabeleži

da se ne slažu sa tim

that they didn't agree with it,

iz dužnog poštovanja prema mišljenjima i običajima civilizovanih nacija,

from a decent respect for the opinions and practice of civilized nations,

whether under republican or monarchical forms of government,

bilo da su republike ili monarhije po uređenju,

whose custom it is to annex,

čiji je običaj prihvatanje,

through the office of the Chief Magistrate,

kroz kancelariju Glavnog magistrata, titule za poštovanje,

titles of respectability --

a ne prokleti predsednik,

not bloody "President."

And that, in the intercourse with foreign nations,

i da u saradnji sa stranim državama,

the majesty of the people of the United States

visočanstvo naroda SAD

may not be hazarded by an appearance of singularity --

neće biti izloženo riziku zbog izgleda jednostavnosti,

i.e., we don't want to look like bloody weirdos.

tj. ne želimo da izgledamo kao prokleti čudaci.

Now, you can learn three interesting things from this.

Iz ovoga možete saznati tri zanimljive stvari.

Pre svega, i ovo mi je omiljeno,

First of all -- and this is my favorite --

is that, so far as I've ever been able to find out,

je da, koliko sam bio u mogućnosti da saznam,

Senat nikada nije formalno prihvatio titulu predsednika.

the Senate has never formally endorsed the title of President.

Barack Obama, President Obama, is there on borrowed time,

Barak Obama, predsednik Obama, je tu na određeno vreme

just waiting for the Senate to spring into action.

čekajući da se Senat baci na posao.

(Laughter)

The second thing you can learn

Druga stvar koju možete naučite je da,

is that, when a government says that this is a temporary measure --

kada vlada kaže da je nešto privremena mera -

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

you can still be waiting 223 years later.

još uvek možete čekati i posle 223 godine.

A treća stvar koju možete saznati,

But the third thing you can learn -- and this is the really important one,

i ovo mi je vrlo važno,

the point I want to leave you on --

ovo je poenta s kojom želim da završim,

is that the title, "President of the United States of America,"

je da titula presednika Sjedinjenih Američkih Država

doesn't sound that humble at all these days, does it?

ne zvuči tako skromno ovih dana, zar ne?

Something to do with the slightly over 5,000

Ima neke veze s nešto preko 5.000

nuclear warheads he has at his disposal

nuklearnih bojnih glava koje ima na raspolaganju

i najvećom ekonomijom na svetu,

and the largest economy in the world

flotom dronova i sličnim stvarima.

and a fleet of drones and all that sort of stuff.

Reality and history have endowed that title with grandeur.

Stvarnost i istorija su obogatili tu titulu grandioznošću.

And so the Senate won in the end.

Tako da je na kraju pobedio Senat.

They got their title of respectability.

Dobili su svoju titulu za poštovanje.

And also, the Senate's other worry, the appearance of singularity --

Takođe, druga briga Senata, pojava jednostavnosti,

well, it was a singularity back then.

pa, tada je bila jedinstvena.

But now, do you know how many nations have a president?

A sada, znate li koliko nacija ima predsednika?

A hundred and forty-seven.

Sto četrdeset i sedam.

All because they want to sound like the guy

I sve to zato što žele da zvuče

who's got the 5,000 nuclear warheads, etc.

kao čovek koji ima 5.000 nuklearnih bojnih glava, itd.

And so, in the end, the Senate won

Dakle, na kraju je Senat pobedio,

and the House of Representatives lost ...

a Predstavnički dom izgubio,

because nobody's going to feel that humble

jer niko se neće osećati tako skromno

when they're told that they are now

kada mu budu rekli da je sada

the President of the United States of America.

predsednik Sjedinjenih Američkih Država.

And that's the important lesson I think you can take away,

I to je važna lekcija koju danas možete naučiti,

i ona s kojom želim da vas ostavim.

and the one I want to leave you with.

Političari biraju reči i koriste ih da oblikuju stvarnost,

Politicians try to pick and use words to shape and control reality,

da kontrolišu stvarnost, ali u stvari,

but in fact,

reality changes words far more than words can ever change reality.

stvarnost menja reči mnogo više

nego što reči mogu da promene stvarnost.

Hvala vam mnogo.

Thank you very much.