Port Ludlow

Port Ludlow Voice Page 6
The Word Game
by Beverly Browne, Voice Editor
Writers, advertisers and politicians are all in the word
business. They know words are important. The way they
are used has a powerful effect on a listener or reader’s
understanding and acceptance of the points being made.
Orson Welles understood this when he wrote 1984, a
novel in which he described a society of the (then) future
in which language was an important technique for manipulation.
He was making an important point that is relevant
today.
Advertisers have always used words and pictures to produce
a favorable image of products that may not deserve
it. For instance early cigarette advertising portrayed
smoking as refreshing and healthful. Remember the
cigarette brand name, Kool? Sold in pretty green package,
they promised a pleasing break in one’s routine with no
harsh effects. It’s hard to imagine now but, at the time, it
sounded good.
Politicians of all persuasions use words to conceal rather
than reveal. This makes it difficult to understand what
government is doing. By corrupting language, people who
wield power are able to fool others about their activities.
Problem behaviors in agencies or employees become
“challenges.” A recession is recast as a less scary “economic
downturn.” Our national school-testing program is
labeled “no child left behind,” which sounds like a nice
goal. Unfortunately, it may not reflect what really happens
because tests only tell how a child performed on a specific
test on the day it was taken. It doesn’t tell how he got the
score, how he will improve or whether the test was any
good. Although doublespeak like this makes people who
are not so smart sound smarter, it can lead to bad decisions
and that can be really scary.
Journalists are often accused of misleading. Ryan Blethan,
Seattle Times editor, says that journalists should take
seriously the power that they wield in their publications
and be sure they present issues and positions fairly and
clearly. We think so, too. Although we are sometimes
imperfect, the Voice tries to pay attention to the language
we use to avoid “red flags,” doublespeak and fuzzy
concepts. We try to avoid making defamatory comments
about people as well and insist that people who submit
articles follow the same rule. We hope that, in following
these guidelines, we provide the kind of relevant, concise
information that Port Ludlow expects and deserves.
Warning: Pyrex Dishes or Utensils
Got any new Pyrex dishes or utensils? Be cautious. There
is a warning on the internet about exploding dishes. In a
typical example one consumer heard a loud bang in her
oven. A Pyrex dish had shattered into a million pieces,
peppering the roast beef with shards of sharp glass.
Consumer Reports says exploding Pyrex is very common.
Worse, dishes may explode when being removed from the
oven. What is going on?
A long time ago a company named Corning manufactured
Pyrex dishes. The material they used, borosilicate glass,
was indestructible. But the company sold the technology
to another company, World Kitchen, as well as the
rights to the original Pyrex logo. World Kitchen took
advantage of a Chinese discovery that using soda lime
glass was almost as good as borosilicate glass and a
lot cheaper. Today Pyrex is made out of soda lime rather
than borosilicate. Wal-Mart is its largest distributor.
If you buy a Pyrex dish, beware. The label on the front
says oven safe, freezer safe and microwave safe. The instructions
on the back tell another story. You cannot move
a soda lime Pyrex dish from the freezer to the oven and
expect it to survive. The fine print discloses more about
what you are not allowed to do with the Pyrex dish.
If your Pyrex dishes are more than 25 years old, don’t
worry. They are Corning dishes. But if they are new, be
sure to read the instructions carefully. The reason the soda
lime dishes blow is that over time they develop microcracks.
Once a few micro-cracks are present and liquid
finds its way into the cracks, you have trouble. Superheated
liquids expand rapidly and can shatter the glass.
New Pyrex is fine for food storage but questionable for
the oven, stovetop or microwave.