1835: “It will therefore happen that the less constituents have to expect from their representative, the more they will anticipate from him; and, however incompetent he may be, they will not fail to call upon him for signal exertions, corresponding to the rank they have conferred upon him.” 2012: “I don’t think anyone equates the polysyllabic nature of your words as a substitute for intellect,” South Carolina Representative Rick Mulvaney said. “Hemmingway wrote very clearly and concisely. Faulkner did not. It does not mean either was smarter than the other.” Worried about Congressional speech levels falling to a 10th-grade level? Track speech patterns throughout the ages with our Means of Communication issue.

1835: “It will therefore happen that the less constituents have to expect from their representative, the more they will anticipate from him; and, however incompetent he may be, they will not fail to call upon him for signal exertions, corresponding to the rank they have conferred upon him.”

2012: “I don’t think anyone equates the polysyllabic nature of your words as a substitute for intellect,” South Carolina Representative Rick Mulvaney said. “Hemmingway wrote very clearly and concisely. Faulkner did not. It does not mean either was smarter than the other.”

Worried about Congressional speech levels falling to a 10th-grade level? Track speech patterns throughout the ages with our Means of Communication issue.