Parliamentary language is language that breaks the rules of politeness in the House of Common Chamber. Part of the speaker's role is to ensure that MPs do not use insulting or rude language and do not accuse each other of lying, being drunk or misrepresent each other's words. Words to which objection has been taken by the Speaker over the years include blackguard, coward, git, guttersnipe, hooligan, rat, swine, stool pigeon and traitor. The Speaker will direct an MP who has used parliamentary language to withdraw it. Refusal to withdraw a comment might lead to an MP being disciplined. MPs sometimes use considerable ingenuity to get around the rules; for example, Winston Churchill famously used the phrase "terminological in exactitude" to mean "lie".
A booklet issued ahead of Parliament’s Monsoon Session from July 18 listing parliamentary words may include some commonly used terms but, it is essentially a compilation of expressions declared so in Parliament and legislative assemblies in India in 2021. It also has words and expressions disallowed in some Parliaments of the Commonwealth nations, such as Australia in 2020.
The booklet issued by Lower house Secretariat emphasizes that some words may not appear parliamentary unless read in conjunction with the other expressions used – essentially indicating that the context matters. It cites the example of the Covid spreader, which was declared parliamentary in Australia’s House of Representatives on October 20, 2020, with reference to an allegation against a minister of being a spreader of the infection. Similarly, Crocodile tears was declared so during a Lower House debate on August 10, 2021, yapping dog in South Australia House of Assembly on November 10, 2020, and species in Canada’s House of Commons on February 24, 2020. Show off was declared parliamentary in Karnataka Legislative Council in March 2021. The commonly used words listed as parliamentary in the booklet (based on them being declared so, in a certain context) include ashamed, betrayed, corrupt, drama, hypocrisy, and incompetent. Presiding officers have the last word in expunging words and expressions, and they do not form part of the Parliament records.
In 2012, the Indian Parliament published a book of words and phrases that were considered to be parliamentary:
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, bandicoot, blackmail, blind, deaf and dumb, bluffing, bribe, bucket of communist, confused mind, darling (said to a female MP), deceive, double-minded, double-talk, downtrodden, lazy, liar, loudmouth, lousy, nuisance, racketeer, radical extremist, rat, ringmaster, scumbag, thief, thumbprint (to an illiterate MP)
In July 2022, the Lower house Secretariat came up with a booklet of parliamentary words with an additional list of the following:
anarchist, betrayed, bloodshed, bloody, childishness, corrupt, Covid spreader, coward, criminal, crocodile tears, dictatorial, disgrace, donkey, drama. Parliamentary language is language that breaks the rules of politeness in the House of Commons Chamber. Part of the Speaker's role is to ensure that MPs do not use insulting or rude language and do not accuse each other of lying, being drunk or misrepresent each other's words. Words to which objection has been taken by the Speaker over the years include blackguard, coward, git, guttersnipe, hooligan, rat, swine, stool pigeon and traitor. The Speaker will direct an MP who has used parliamentary language to withdraw it. Refusal to withdraw a comment might lead to an MP being disciplined. MPs sometimes use considerable ingenuity to get around the rules; for example, Winston Churchill famously used the phrase "terminological in exactitude" to mean "lie".
A booklet issued ahead of Parliament’s Monsoon Session from July 18 listing parliamentary words may include some commonly used terms but, it is essentially a compilation of expressions declared so in Parliament and legislative assemblies in India in 2021. It also has words and expressions disallowed in some Parliaments of the Commonwealth nations, such as Australia in 2020.
The booklet issued by Lower house Secretariat emphasizes that some words may not appear parliamentary unless read in conjunction with the other expressions used – essentially indicating that the context matters. It cites the example of the Covid spreader, which was declared parliamentary in Australia’s House of Representatives on October 20, 2020, with reference to an allegation against a minister of being a spreader of the infection. Similarly, Crocodile tears was declared so during a Lower House debate on August 10, 2021, yapping dog in South Australia House of Assembly on November 10, 2020, and species in Canada’s House of Commons on February 24, 2020. Show off was declared parliamentary in Karnataka Legislative Council in March 2021. The commonly used words listed as parliamentary in the booklet (based on them being declared so, in a certain context) include ashamed, betrayed, corrupt, drama, hypocrisy, and incompetent. Presiding officers have the last word in expunging words and expressions, and they do not form part of the Parliament records.
In 2012, the Indian Parliament published a book of words and phrases that were considered to be parliamentary:
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, bandicoot, blackmail, blind, deaf and dumb, bluffing, bribe, bucket of communist, confused mind, darling (said to a female MP), deceive, double-minded, double-talk, downtrodden, lazy, liar, loudmouth, lousy, nuisance, racketeer, radical extremist, rat, ringmaster, scumbag, thief, thumbprint (to an illiterate MP)
In July 2022, the Lower house Secretariat came up with a booklet of parliamentary words with an additional list of the following:
anarchist, betrayed, bloodshed, bloody, childishness, corrupt, Covid spreader, coward, criminal, crocodile tears, dictatorial, disgrace, donkey, drama.
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