Why do politicians talk like that?
Science Friday

Why do politicians talk like that?

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 15, 202618 min

With the midterms approaching, politicians are out in full force to convince voters to elect them. And that means that we’re hearing a lot of “politician speak.” You know it when you hear it: those folksy turns of phrase, the vague promises. But what do linguists have to say about this vocal register? How has politician speak changed over time? Does the way someone pronounces their As signal something about their values? Sociolinguist Valerie Fridland joins Flora to decode politician speak. Guest: Dr. Valerie Fridland is a professor of linguistics at University of Neva...

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With the midterms approaching in less than a month, politicians are out in full force

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  • B21:54
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  • C17:50
  • B211:24
  • B211:44
  • B216:09
  • C116:29

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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 19%A2 39%B1 26%B2 13%C1 3%
  • 84% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 159 words a minute: a natural pace.
  • 94 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

Hey, it's Flora and you're listening to Science Friday. With the midterms approaching in less than a month, politicians are out in full force trying to convince voters to elect them. And that means that we are hearing a lot of this.

0:19

All right. I know this crowd loves freedom. Everywhere I went, people told me the same thing. It just shouldn't be this hard.

0:27

be this hard to afford a second bag of groceries. You see, Georgia's where I built my business. It's where I raised my family. It's where I learned the hard lessons

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