Think Tank Urges Dems To Drop These 45 Terms That Turn Off Normies

A left-leaning think tank is urging Democrats to stop repelling normal human beings with the use of a deep grab-bag of woke words and phrases. The road to electoral Hell is paved with good intentions, writes Third Way: “The intent of this language is to include, broaden, empathize, accept, and embrace. The effect of this language is to sound like the extreme, divisive, elitist, and obfuscatory, enforcers of wokeness.” 

Third Way is far from the first to warn leftists that their language is off-putting. Bill Maher has repeatedly pummeled them, and Vice President JD Vance has too, telling Laura Ingraham, “I mean, look, the autopsy for the Democrats, some free political advice from the president of the United States is: stop sounding like crazy people.” 

However, Third Way’s communique is distinguished by its long and specific list of annoying jargon. “In this memo, we are putting a spotlight on the language we use that puts a wall between us and everyday people of all races, religions, and ethnicities. These are words that people simply do not say, yet they hear them from Democrats,” said Third Way, which describes itself as a group of “passionate moderates” but is, in practice, an organization of center-leftists that evolved out of a gun control group, Americans for Gun Safety, and is led by a career Democratic pol, Jonathan Cowan.  

Elaborating on the theme with Politico this week, Third Way SVP Lanae Erickson said three potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates are exemplary communicators: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego. She said that Beshear was recently “talking about the fact that ‘justice-involved individuals’ is not a thing that any justice-involved individual would call themselves.” 

“Over the years we’ve conducted, read, and analyzed hours upon hours of focus groups, and we’ve yet to hear a voter volunteer any of the phrases below except as a form of derision or parody of Democrats,” said the group. The memo breaks down the long list of offending words and phrases into several categories. 

THERAPY SPEAK: According to Third Way, these words tell others “I’m more empathetic than you, and you are callous to hurting other’s feelings.” They also make it “uncomfortable for many people to engage in hard topics,” the DC-based group says. 

• Privilege
• Violence (as in “environmental violence”)
• Dialoguing
• Othering
• Triggering
• Microaggression / assault/ invalidation
• Progressive stack
• Centering
• Safe space
• Holding space
• Body shaming

SEMINAR ROOM LANGUAGE:  Third Way says these words tell people “I’m smarter and more concerned about important issues than you.” The group warns that “when we use words people don’t understand, studies show that the part of their brain that signals distrust becomes more active.” 

• Subverting norms
• Systems of oppression
• Critical theory
• Cultural appropriation
• Postmodernism
• Overton Window
• Heuristic
• Existential threat to [climate, the planet, democracy, the economy]

ORGANIZER JARGON: “These words say “we are beholden to groups, not individuals,” said Third Way.  

• Radical transparency
• Small ‘d’ democracy
• Barriers to participation
• Stakeholders
• The unhoused
• Food insecurity
• Housing insecurity
• Person who immigrated

GENDER/ ORIENTATION CORRECTNESS: Third Way says this jargon tells normies, “Your views on traditional genders and gender roles are at best quaint.” 

• Birthing person/inseminated person
• Pregnant people
• Chest feeding
• Cisgender
• Deadnaming
• Heteronormative
• Patriarchy
• LGBTQIA+

RACIAL CONSTRUCTS: “These words signal that talking about race is even more of a minefield” with the danger of being called a racist if you fail to use the latest “correct terminology,” said Third Way.  

• Latinx
• BIPOC
• Allyship
• Intersectionality
• Minoritized communities

CRIME TALK: Third Way warns that these terms tell normies that “the criminal is the victim. The victim is an afterthought.” 

• Justice-involved
• Carceration
• Incarcerated people
• Involuntary confinement

Stop calling them language police. They are people who police language. https://t.co/4WZUbLpvOY

— Keith Humphreys (@KeithNHumphreys) August 22, 2025