Q & Eh by Dianne Bardsley

Author:Dianne Bardsley [Laurie Bauer, Dianne Bardsley, Janet Holmes and Paul Warren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781869793449
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2011-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Dianne Bardsley

What impact does politics have on English?

There are several ways in which the political domain has contributed to the uniqueness of vocabulary and usage in New Zealand English. Auckland’s Supercity just slips off the tongues of media spokespeople. Treelords sits comfortably alongside Sealords as a moniker for a particular Treaty settlement.

Like the populations of many other nations, we like to refer to our politicians in a familiar and informal way, while not always being complimentary. Not surprisingly, the most colourful politicians, the ones who have polarised voters, or those who have introduced controversial legislation, are the ones who have spawned the most new terms or usages.

The Premier Richard Seddon generated a variety of terms. Known as a ‘legislative larrikin’ in the House, he was referred to during his term in office (and since) as King Dick, and Seddonism, Seddonite and Seddonland were spawn that developed. He also popularised the phrase ‘God’s Own Country’, first used in a poem by Thomas Bracken in the 1890s. The phrase since Dick Seddon was a boy was used for decades to represent the passing of a lengthy period of time. (Long before bread was sliced.)

William Massey, Prime Minister during the First World War, was immortalised in the lexicon with terms that related to war and domestic unrest. Massey’s Cossacks was the name given to special constables used during a waterfront strike, and he gave his name to boots and coats as part of army issue. Musterers continued to wear Bill Masseys long after the wars. However, he is best remembered throughout the nation in the naming of Massey University.

Red Fed Bob Semple, another of the colourful variety, left his name while Minister of Works (then Public Works) around the time of the Second World War with the Semple tank (a bulldozer-like vehicle designed to defend our shores) and Semple’s temples (wartime army huts used later as homes for returned servicemen who went farming).

Ministers of finance who introduced unpopular fiscal policies and budgets, such as Arnold Nordmeyer (with the Black Budget of 1958) and Ruthless Ruth Richardson (with the Mother of all Budgets), have contributed to the phrasal data of politics. Robo-Goff, pertaining to Labour’s Phil Goff, is a recent addition. The National government has been described as a Teflon government (a global term) but our prime minister specifically has been described as a Teflon boy. Nothing bad sticks to John Key, we are told.

Another prime minister, Rob Muldoon — rumoured to be as cold as the freezes he placed on prices and wages — retained loyal supporters who were commonly known as Rob’s Mob. Muldoonism recorded a period of our political history associated with doom and gloom for many, along with the fated Think Big industrial programme. We have had the Tight Five, the Fish ’n’ Chips Brigade and Rogernomics. We have had MP Peter Dunne described as ‘the town bike of politics’ in a Dominion Post column by Bob Jones. No other nation has had a McGillicuddy Serious Party or a Pull Yourself Together Party for which to vote.

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