# Why do politicians say "So-sal Security"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617 "2012-10-23T14:32:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/1 "2012-10-23T14:32:38Z")
They pretty much all do this, and I just don’t get it. It’s not one of those deals where a word gets slurred through repetition: the “sh” sound is easier to make if anything (think of a drunk driver insisting “No, I haven’t been drinking, offisher”). It’s like some Illuminati passcode to signify insider status. Or does anyone know civilians who say this? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/2 "2012-10-23T15:04:35Z")
I have never noticed this. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/3 "2012-10-23T15:07:21Z")
I suspect you’re hearing an “sh” sound distorted by sound equipment, and possibly by the person speaking with a louder voice than is normal. I’d need to see what clips you have in mind to be sure though. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/4 "2012-10-23T15:10:26Z")
I’ve noticed it too. Obama is a particularly bad offender. But he’s got lots of odd speech patterns. It reminds me of the old Wilford Brimley TV ads where he would pronounce “diabetes” as “die-a-BET-ees”. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/5 "2012-10-23T15:53:59Z")
**Debaser,** don’t you mean “die-a-BEET-us”? **Frylock** , I don’t think that’s it. I’m not hearing other words with “sh” sounds that way (including many TV mentions of “social media”). I’ll look for examples and link them when I find some. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/6 "2012-10-24T17:19:34Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3zuJfJkCtV4/maxresdefault.jpg "Romney: Calling social security a "ponzi scheme" scares seniors") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zuJfJkCtV4) Romney says it three times between 3:20 and 3:40. Cf. Wolf Blitzer at 0:16 and 0:24, whose “sh” sound is far more prominent at the very least. Gingrich also enunciates the “sh” at 9:50, so clearly I was too broad in accusing all politicians of doing this. Here are Biden and Ryan: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zmjSqVixA6Y/hqdefault.jpg "Vice Presidential Debate 2012: Joe Biden, Paul Ryan Spar on Medicare, Social Security") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmjSqVixA6Y) At 4:15, Biden does the “Sosal” thing; Ryan is guilty of a different and more understandable mispronunciation (at 0:15), slurring it as “Soeshecurity”. At the very beginning of the clip, moderator Martha Raddatz pronounces it correctly in both aspects. From the first Obama-Romney debate: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VzcdDIhKGAI/hqdefault.jpg "Presidential Debate 2012 on Social Security: Candidates Clash Over Vouchers") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzcdDIhKGAI) To my ear (0:15), Obama surprisingly does pronounce the “sh”, despite what \*\*Debaser \*\*says. Once again, Romney does the “sosal” thing, though (2:57). ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/7 "2012-10-24T17:36:15Z")
I hear what you mean the first time in the first clip, though the other two times sound like the right sound to me. I think it’s just that the tongue ends up placed further up than a normal “sh” sound because of the ‘s’ sound that’s coming up. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/8 "2012-10-24T17:57:18Z")
Yeah, I figured that must be it–that they are thinking about the upcoming “s” sound. Seems strange to me though. I feel like I’ve never heard “regular” people do this; but OTOH maybe I don’t hear the hoi polloi referring to SS as often as politicians do. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/9 "2012-10-25T04:38:17Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I hear what you mean the first time in the first clip, though the other two times sound like the right sound to me. > > I think it’s just that the tongue ends up placed further up than a normal “sh” sound because of the ‘s’ sound that’s coming up. But that shouldn’t change anything as long as your teeth are closed. And that’s what I think the thing is–they don’t close their teeth, as that’s an extra movement. Still, I wonder why it doesn’t come out as a mixture, as it does with me when I try that. My tongue is in the place of an S. My teeth are open to let my tongue through. Yet the sound I make is more like someone who has a sibilance problem than an S. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/10 "2012-10-25T11:04:58Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But that shouldn’t change anything as long as your teeth are closed. And that’s what I think the thing is–they don’t close their teeth, as that’s an extra movement. > > Still, I wonder why it doesn’t come out as a mixture, as it does with me when I try that. My tongue is in the place of an S. My teeth are open to let my tongue through. Yet the sound I make is more like someone who has a sibilance problem than an S. I am not sure what you mean about closing the teeth. The only difference between an s and sh sound is the position of the tongue, and in both cases the tongue is behind the teeth. You’re not thinking of the th sound for some reason, are you? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/11 "2012-10-25T19:10:04Z")
I think that there are negociations going on about how to pronounce it properly. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-politicians-say-so-sal-security/638617/12 "2012-10-27T01:57:13Z")
Ha, I saw what you did there.