Mayor Mike likes being a question on the Regents exam, so we thought we'd pose a question for him, ELA style:
Consider the following statement:
Changing one word of the current Assembly bill on mayoral control would "resurrect the Soviet Union" and "bring back chaos."
This statement can best be described as:
a. Hyperbole
b. Idiocy
c. Both a and b
d. Euphemism
The correct answer, of course, is c. That slab of idiocy is an example of the hyperbole Mayor Mike used to try to scare people into supporting mayoral control. But at today's press conference, when the mayor was asked to explain his bizarre comment, he said "It's a euphemism." So no perfect 4 on the ELA exam for the mayor. I say we make him attend 37.5 minutes until he gets these kinds of questions right.
In fact, the mayor's statement is about as far from a euphemism as you can get. For the record, a euphemism is the substitution of a mild statement for one that is harsh or troubling. For example, instead of saying mayoral control is dead, you might say that it "sunset". Isn't that nicer?
At least he didn't say it was a pun.
