I just listened to a talk by Geoffrey Nunberg. It was about his new book and partly about how the word “liberal” has changed it’s meaning in the parlance of American popular opinion.
I couldn’t really remember when “Liberal” wasn’t spoken as almost a curse word. It started with Reagan and has continued since.
Well, I found an example.
I was watching “Citizen Kane” today. A reasonable thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.
Here is a line from the movie:
I am speaking of Charles Foster Kane.
The fighting liberal.
The friend of the working man.
I’ve never actually heard that usage of liberal before. Certainly not “fighting liberal”.