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The Language of Victory and Defeat

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, Elections

Yesterday, in the comments to a post about John McCain’s chances at victory, there was a debate about what does and does not qualify as a rout. To avoid further linguistic confusion, I’ve developed the following chart relating margin of victory to its appropriate description. This is probably the most insightful and important election post I’ve ever written. I hope you all take significant time to review. Thank you.

0.1% – 3%: A Squeaker*

3.1% – 5%: A Statement

5.1% – 7%: A Thumping

7.1% – 9%: A Drubbing

9.1% – 11%: A Whipping

11.1% – 13%: A Smackdown

13.1% — 15%: A Thrashing

15.1% – 17%: A Clobbering

17.1% and above: A Rout

* Please note, in the George W. Bush English Language Dictionary, “a squeaker” may also be referred to as “a mandate.”


This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Elections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “The Language of Victory and Defeat”

  1. David Says:
    October 23rd, 2008 at 10:54 am

    I think I’d exchange the positions of ‘clobbering’ and ‘smackdown’, but well done.

  2. Justin Gardner Says:
    October 23rd, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    I’d say we’re in for a thumping or a drubbing. :-)

    GREAT post!

  3. Aaron Says:
    October 23rd, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    So where does ‘landslide’ fit into this chart, and what name should we know it by from now on? :)

  4. Alan Stewart Carl Says:
    October 23rd, 2008 at 2:51 pm

    As the creater and sole arbiter of election victory naming, I have determined “landslide” to be a word better used in relation to expectations vs. results than a word that describes a specific victory percentage. I.E. if Obama is expected to win with a statement and actually delivers a whipping, we could call that a landslide due to the large numbers of additional voters sliding his way at the final moments. My highly trained team of numberist linguisticians is still determining the exact amount results must exceed expectations to qualify as a landslide. Thank you for your interest.

  5. Bob Aman Says:
    October 23rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    Haha, awesome post.

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