|
Reader question: If a politician says in an election campaign “I’m not selling out”, what does it mean? My comments: To sell is to give something up in exchange for money. To sell out something is to sell all of it. You go to a box office to buy a ticket to watch a movie, for instance, but the ticket clerk may tell you the tickets are sold out, “out” implying that it’s all gone. You’ve come too late. When a politician says in an election campaign “I’m not selling out”, on the other hand, he’s talking about something immaterial. He’s talking about principles, ideas of wrong and right. He is promising his voters that he’s not going to betray them, their party’s doctrines for personal gain. I’m guessing, of course. I’m not even sure. I mean, I’m not even sure you can trust a politician these days, whatever he says. He or she, I may add, for the undependable politician can be male as well as female. Anyways, the word “sell” suggests a trade, an exchange. People can sell some goods or sell a friend (betraying his trust). When they’re not addressing anything specific, they’re then talking about things that are spiritual. They’re using the term metaphorically. People accuse others of selling their soul to the devil, for instance, meaning to say they’ll do anything, anything, however wrong and dirty it is, to achieve their goals. To sum up, when a politician promises that he’s not selling out, he means to say he’ll remain principled and scrupulous. He won’t betray you. | 
