“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.” – H.L. Mencken
I was looking for a quick way of assessing the word usage level of certain dialogues. I wasn’t successful at finding anything quick – maybe someone should invent one? – so I’ll have to forge ahead making guesses and assumptions.
A long time irritant for me has been Ford commercials, especially for their trucks. The ads contain almost nothing but one syllable words, often delivered in an in-your-face grunt. They are, I am guessing, what old Mr Mencken was talking about in his column in 1926 when he said no one went broke underestimating intelligence. The latest batch of Ford truck ads are using the word “undisputed,” which is a whopping four syllables, but still conveys a tough guy swagger as the word is best known for its description of a fighter who has conquered everyone. Even allowing for this exception, my guess at the word usage level for these ads would be about grade 5. Gearing your advertisements towards people with a low reading/comprehension level isn’t hurting Ford too much, as their trucks are on every street you look at, having been the highest selling truck for 50 straight years.
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Which brings me to Donald Trump. The Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University rates Trump at about grade 4 usage, the lowest of any candidate in the 2016 election cycle. (I heard that during the debates when he was speaking off the cuff it dropped to a grade 3 level.) Although, to be fair, the highest usage level was only the 10th grade wordiness of Bernie Sanders. All the candidates must be careful not to alienate the “plain people,” as that would surely not get anyone a majority of votes. Like the Ford truck, the Trump brand is not being hurt by keeping it simple. As of today he is slightly behind Hillary Clinton in the polls, but there is lots of time left to catch up.
If democracy is a true method of bringing the will of the people to the ballot box, then maybe a poorly educated mass should elect a poorly spoken candidate. There is also a correllation between education levels and where a person votes along liberal-conservative lines, with the better educated tending towards liberalism. Of course, there are exceptions like the brilliant conservative William F. Buckley, but the trend is fairly consistent. So a poorly spoken conservative should be a winning combination in today’s world. How else could you get mass appeal for an arrogant billionaire who promises tax cuts to the rich?
Oh well, it isn’t my country or my election, but it does dominate the news. I also don’t feel any smugness about it happening elsewhere. The Canadian Trump might be Kevin O’Leary, and he has expressed interest in running as a Conservative and cites Trump as an inspiration. Stay tuned for the Great White North edition!