"If you want to get drunk on a Tuesday night, tune into a Palo Alto school board meeting. Take a shot every time somebody uses the word "rigor." Rigor, at least when it comes to school board politics, is a compromise word. On one hand, you have those who want strong academics and high standards. The other side wants to "dumb it down," though they'd never use that term."
"America, circa 2025, is speaking a new language. Governments, businesses, activists, politicians and journalists are changing the language to suit their needs. The idea is to alter the meanings of words to make them more palatable to the public. 'Invest' rather than 'spend' Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to spend $1 billion more on high-speed rail, despite the state's $12 billion debt. He called his scheme "cap-and-invest." The phrase is usually "cap-and-spend" but "invest" makes it sound like he's wisely spending the money."
The word 'rigor' operates as a vague compromise label in school board politics, allowing opposing factions to project different meanings and avoid objective standards. Frequent invocation of 'rigor' masks the absence of an objective, measurable definition and renders the term effectively meaningless. Language across government, business, activism and media is being altered to make policies more palatable, with euphemisms reshaping perceptions. Examples include labeling spending as 'investment' as in 'cap-and-invest,' reframing equality as 'equity' to emphasize equal outcomes over equal opportunity, and replacing 'churches and synagogues' with 'houses of faith.' These shifts change how policies and institutions are perceived and debated.
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