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Washington is a unique city, and nowhere is that more evident than in its unique language — the jargon of politics and government. You'll hear it spoken not only when you tour the halls of Congress but also when you eavesdrop on conversations in a restaurant, along the sidewalk, or on a Metrorail train.
If you're fluent in this jargon, then you know that a lawmaker doesn't propose a piece of legislation; he drops a bill. The heads of the powerful House subcommittees that control spending bills are not chairmen; they're the college of cardinals. A gaggle is not a gathering of geese but a gathering of reporters around a news source. You could write a book about this stuff. In fact, several people already have.
Here are a few definitions of words or phrases you may hear and wonder about as you wander about D.C.:
- Advance man: A political operative who prepares an event before the candidate arrives.
- Background: Interviewer-interviewee agreement by which the information imparted can be reported but the source's identity must be kept confidential.
- Carpetbagger: Politician who moves into a new community to seek power.
- Dark horse: Candidate who probably can't win.
- Eleventh Commandment: GOP tradition — often honored in the breach — that Republicans should not speak ill of other Republicans.
- Fat cat: Someone with lots of money.
- Gentle lady: What the gentlemen of the House call their female colleagues because, for some reason, just plain "lady" doesn't suffice.
- Gerrymander: To draw odd-shaped legislative districts in order to benefit the party in power.
- Hack: A low-ranking party worker who does what he's told.
- Junket: A government official's all-expenses-paid trip that has questionable value to government.
- Lame duck: Government official who has been defeated or can't run for reelection.
- Off the record: Information that can't be published.
- The other body: What the House calls the Senate and the Senate calls the House.
- Pork: Legislated benefits for a small group rather than for the national interest.
- POTUS: In acronym-obsessed Washington, the President of the United States.
- Red tape: Bureaucratic rules that slow down action.
- SCOTUS: The Supreme Court of the United States.
- Smoke-filled room: Where politicians cut deals without public scrutiny, and where today smoking probably isn't allowed.
- Think tank: Organization that conducts research and analysis.
- Veep: The vice president.
- Waffle: Not taking a clear stand.
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