Terms Difficult to Classify

These new terms are difficult to classify as conservative or liberal:

Term  | Origin date  | Comments

|
|

affirmative action | 1961  | first used in JFK's Executive Order 10925 in 1961 and subsequently promoted by LBJ.
Americanism  | 1781  | Originally, a phrase unique to American English, later, loyalty to America and its principles
bipartisan  | 1909  | emphasized by liberals when they are in the minority in power, but ignored by liberals when they are the majority in power
colonist  | 1701  | settlers of a new country
compartmentalize  | 1925  | compartmentalizing the Bible away from knowledge and education leads to ignorance and despair
contrarian  | 1657  | someone who delights in taking a position contrary to others
eclectic  | 1683  | taking the best from among different styles or ideas; compare best of the public
evangelism  | 1620-30  | "isms" are usually pejorative, though this acquired a positive meaning over time, and perhaps from the outset
genetics  | 1905  | perhaps this should be on the conservative list?
identity politics  | 1988  | exploiting racial, ethnic, gender alliances for political gain
inane  | 1662  | refers to comments, often made by liberals, that are utterly devoid of substance
junk legislation  | 1980s  | used initially by liberals to complain about the lack of meaningful legislation
missionary  | 1635-1645  | conservative?
multitasking  | 1966  | performing multiple tasks all at once
polar coordinates  | 1694  | Newton may have used it earlier
republican  | 1685  |
reverse engineer  | 1973  | to deconstruct a product (or software) in order to understand how it works, often with the purpose of copying it
scrooge  | 1843  | the main character in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol; the story is based on materialism and is often used as a substitute for the Biblical account, but charity is a conservative value
smoke and mirrors  | 1982  | describes the use of deceit, particularly in politics; probably a conservative term, but will await more etymology about it
soapbox  | 1907  | now used pejoratively, but probably not initially when it was a way for the public to participate
states' rights  | 1790  | liberals often invoke this too; Democrats were its biggest champions in the 1800s (in connection with slavery), and even today on issues like legalizing drugs and same-sex marriage
technocrat  | 1932  | technical expert
telecommute  | 1974[1] | a combination of a Greek root ("tele", which means "far off") and a Latin root ("commutare", which means "to exchange")
toady  | 1826  | a toady caves into peer pressure to seek acceptance by others: "the largest gathering of toadies is by college students herded into Obama campaign rallies"
tomfoolery  | 1812  | playful or foolish behavior
traditionalism  | 1856  | "beliefs of those opposed to modernism, liberalism, or radicalism"
twilight zone | 1949  | the realm of imagination that seems impossible but is difficult to disprove, and which challenges ordinary views of reality; also the terminator between night and day on a planetary body
Whip[2] | late 1800s  | An elected position in each political party for the legislator responsible for gathering and confirming support for the party position on particular bills. This term is derived from "whipper-in," which in fox-hunting refers to the man who prevents hunting dogs from straying amid a chase.[3]
wiki  | 1995  | a website (or website software) that facilitates contributions and corrections by the public
working class  | 1789  | those who work regular, 40-hour weeks in manual labor, such as factory jobs

## References[edit]

1. ↑ The first use of this term was in the British magazine The Economist.
2. ↑ In its political usage.
3. ↑ http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/11/durbin_re-elected_number_two_s.html