分享一个知识点:
Reader question: What is a “spin doctor”?
My comments: A spin doctor is not to be confused with a medical doctor who treats patients to cure them of disease.
A spin doctor on the other hand is someone who “treats” a story (or mistreats it, but we’ll come to that later). He “spins” a story, you see, as in the phrase “spin a yarn”, meaning to tell a long and winding story.
A “yarn” is a strand of thread, long and winding as a result from being spun from, say, a spinning machine. For centuries, though, “spinning a yarn” has also been an idiom for telling a tale, especially a long and winding tale as told by sailors and other seafaring people. As they relate their stories, these people, everyone a Robinson Crusoe, tend to exaggerate over their adventures abroad. Hence, spinning yarns became synonymous for telling fabricated stories, too, that is, stories that might not be entirely true.
Not to stray too far, let’s get back to the term “spin doctor”, who is generally speaking a media relations advisor to a government or a political party or a PR expert hired by a company. The jobs of these people are essentially to “treat” information (to suit their propaganda needs), much in the way a doctor “treats” a patient. Have you ever heard of phrases like a “doctored photo”, for example? That means the photo is not genuine, not the way it originally looks like, but edited. Similarly, spin doctors often purge unfavorable facts and figures from stories to be released to the public.
To do that, they have to “spin”, of course. That is, twist things around, and generally try to “put a positive spin” on anything undesirable happening. They do that by, for example, hiding unfavorable facts while highlighting favorable figures.
That is, so that the story reads like a feather in the cap rather than a slap in the face. That’s how most press releases read, is it not?
Anyways this, for your reference, from Phrases.org.uk: So, why ‘spin’? For the derivation of that we need to go back to yarn. We know that sailors and other storytellers have a reputation for spinning yarns. Given a phrase in the language like ‘spin a yarn’, we might expect to assume that a yarn was a tall tale and that the tellers spun it out. That’s not quite right though. Until the phrase was coined, yarn was just thread. The phrase was coined as an entity, just meaning ‘tell a tale’. That came about in the early 19th century and was first written down in James Hardy Vaux’s A new and comprehensive vocabulary of the flash language, in 1812: “Yarning or spinning a yarn, signifying to relate their various adventures, exploits, and escapes to each other.” So, spin became associated with telling a story. It began to be used in a political and promotional context in the late 1980s. For example, in the Guardian Weekly, January 1978: “The CIA can be an excellent source [of information], though, like every other, its offerings must be weighed for factuality and spin.” From there it is a small step for the people employed to weave reports of factual events into palatable stories to be called ‘spin doctors’.
体坛英语资讯:Schalke beat Schweinfurt 2-0 in German Cup
国际英语资讯:ASEAN seeks to strengthen trade relations with partners
国内英语资讯:Xi meets Malian president
她用短短几段话解释恋人为什么会分手,148万网友点赞
报告显示 近八成海归认为收入水平低于预期
Reading Books or Practical Experience 看书还是实际经验
体坛英语资讯:Guardiola asks for time for Foden to develop while lamenting De Bruyne injury
体坛英语资讯:Pereira, Arthur named in Brazil squad for friendlies
国内英语资讯:Vice premier calls for better prevention, cure of endemic diseases
研究发现 睡眠不足竟会导致美国年损4000亿美元
国际英语资讯:Feature: Renowned U.S. medical center upbeat about opportunities in China
国内英语资讯:Interview: FOCAC to strengthen China-Africa environmental cooperation: UNEP chief
国际英语资讯:President Trump notifies Congress of intent to sign trade agreement with Mexico
国际英语资讯:Pentagon says no change on U.S. military posture regarding Korean Peninsula
懒惰能让你更长寿?颠覆你常识的研究来了!
国际英语资讯:BIMSTEC summit ends with commitments to enhance regional cooperation
体坛英语资讯:China ready to kick off Asian Games badminton campaign
微信支付在马来西亚开通数字钱包
国内英语资讯:China-Zimbabwe relations reach new level: Chinese envoy
国际英语资讯:British PM visits Nigeria eyeing closer relations
体坛英语资讯:Renhe secures victory in CSLs Beijing derby
国内英语资讯:China, Egypt to advance comprehensive strategic partnership
国际英语资讯:Pakistans finance minister vows to address deficiencies in?anti-money laundering system
体坛英语资讯:Uganda’s KCCA FC defeat Botswana’s Township Rollers 1-0 in Champions League tie
幸福的人有这些习惯
My View on Private Car 论私家车
How to Care for Children in a Right Way 如何正确关爱孩子
国内英语资讯:Chinas engagement key to sustaining peace, stability in S. Sudan: experts
体坛英语资讯:Real Madrid boss Lopetegui repeats he is happy with current squad
国内英语资讯:China, Burkina Faso agree to open new chapter of bilateral friendly cooperation
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |