Norman Mailer's Language Lesson

Norman Mailer, the brilliant American writer, died two days ago and in his honour the Andrew Marr show repeated an interview he gave not long ago. In it Mailer talked about how we must use the correct language if we are to deal with the issues that face society. He cited Colin Powell calling the Twin Tower bombers, "cowards". Mailer said call them any expletive you like or any other word that describes what they did, but they are clearly not 'cowards'. They were men prepared to die for their ideals.

They are not ideals I agree with and I abhor their violence and everything about what they did. However, as Mailer said, "You can't start fooling with the language if you want to deal with issues properly." He's absolutely right, because you don't address the subject you get embroiled in the rhetoric or the heaven's forbid, political correctness.