06-17-2003, 09:12 PM
"Hitler" sounds far more menacing than "Adolf". One has impact (it's even a pun!). The other sounds like the guy who makes sausages down the street. So if I wanted to fuel a propaganda machine against the Nazis (Not-zeez, or as Churchill so often put it, Nau-zeez), I would most certainly call him "Hitler".
As for Saddam vs. Hussein, people have associations (mostly positive) with King Hussein of Jordan, and, before he died, it would have been confusing to refer to "Hussein".
Now, what's really funny is when Bush Sr. pronounced Saddam as Sodom, a practice that has yet to leave the government's rhetoric.
Politicians will always paint their enemies in the worst light, even at the basest level. It's a trick as old as language, and there's no consistency to it at all. Whatever sounds worst.
Jester
As for Saddam vs. Hussein, people have associations (mostly positive) with King Hussein of Jordan, and, before he died, it would have been confusing to refer to "Hussein".
Now, what's really funny is when Bush Sr. pronounced Saddam as Sodom, a practice that has yet to leave the government's rhetoric.
Politicians will always paint their enemies in the worst light, even at the basest level. It's a trick as old as language, and there's no consistency to it at all. Whatever sounds worst.
Jester