I’ve just finished reading Kansalaistaito (Civics) by Vesa Heikkinen and Tapio Pajunen; it was among last year’s candidates for the Tieto-Finlandia Award for non-fiction. In one section, the authors use parts of speech to analyze political language. One of the most popular nouns in politics is people. People is useful in many situations: it can integrate by referring to the public as a whole, or differentiate by separating ordinary people from an imagined elite, or our countrymen from other nationalities. Politicians also love verbs like reform and impersonal uses of to be. Usage like “it is” or “things are” doesn’t lead anywhere, but does help the speaker describe and classify issues. To say that something existing will be reformed is to convey a positive message while avoiding details. The number one adjective in politics is good. The “good” state of affairs is presented as fact, but mostly it’s simply opinions. As for pronouns, the most popular ones for politicians are we, us, our. They’re an inviting, efficient start on the path to persuasion. We-speak creates a team spirit, although it’s sometimes unclear who is and is not included in us. An important skill for citizens is understanding that words do not have a single, unchanging meaning; their meaning shifts according to the speaker’s purposes.