How has Dáil insult language changed
Parliamentary Abuse, Carefully Worded
The Dáil has apparently been conducting a long-running experiment in how much contempt can fit inside parliamentary procedure. The Irish Times has gathered 25 insults, from “damned Englishman” and “corner boy” to the more modern vocabulary of “f**king a**hole”. A national archive, then, but with fewer archivists and more points of order.
Translation service “Unparliamentary language” means: the insult was accurate enough to cause administrative discomfort. The traditional version arrived dressed as a noun. The contemporary version has removed the coat and is waiting outside the chamber with a cigarette.
Footnote 1 This does not necessarily prove that politicians have become ruder. It may only prove that older politicians had better euphemisms, longer memories, and more confidence that everyone understood what “a most objectionable individual” meant.
The article is a useful reminder that political language does not simply decline. It changes costume. The Dáil still has rules about what may be said, which is reassuring. The country has always had rules about what may be said. We have merely developed a national talent for saying it sideways.