From both major parties and its candidates, I am hearing the same modifiers over and over again – describing people…voters like you and me…
Everyday people…Common people…Ordinary people…
Everyday = Routine, ordinary, not unique
Common = Lacking special status or distinction; Unexceptional
Ordinary = No exceptional degree of ability or quality
I could think of many ways to describe the people of America. And “ordinary” is not one of them.
If you want to truly communicate and connect with your audience, I recommend:
1. Learning as much as you can about your audience
2. Elevating, rather than denigrating, your audience
I am not sure why the politicians need any such modifiers to describe the majority of the people. In the end, it only creates an uncomfortable division between the speaker and the audience. In the case of the primaries (for both major parties), it feels more like the “Great Divide.”
FOR YOUR REFERENCING PLEASURE: My favorite dictionary – The American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language – is worth its weight in gold. That’s saying a lot these days!