September 28, 2000

spin doctor

What does the term Spin Doctor mean, and what is its origin?

Your question is as timely as it is succinct, Lawrence. The dog days of summer might be just coming to a close, but it's autumn in an election year, and the sweet smell of voter indecision in the air is enough to bring the spin doctors out in hungry packs, vying for our hearts (and votes). And if they do their jobs well, we'll swallow that sugar-coated confection never knowing it originally had the taste and consistency of last week's herring.

The phrase spin doctor, as a name for those consummate practioners of spin control, found coinage in the language in the mid-1980's, during the decade that brought us couch potato, soundbite, and mallrat. They are so named for their ability to put the right 'spin,' or slant, on an event.

One of the earliest print citations of spin doctor appeared in an October 1984 New York Times article following the Reagan/Mondale debate, and a helpful definition is contained therein: "A dozen men in good suits and women in silk dresses will circulate smoothly among the reporters, spouting confident opinions. They won't be just press agents trying to impart a favorable spin to a routine release. They'll be Spin Doctors, senior advisors to the candidates." No ordinary politicians' flaks, these are spinmeisters, spin masters, sultans of spin. Whereas a flak (short for flak-catcher, or person who deflects adverse publicity from his or her employer) might hope merely to turn already negative publicity to advantage, the spin doctor attempts to prevent any negative criticism from ever reaching the public. In their own terms, they do this by "getting ahead of the story," by applying spin to a story like a pool sharp to a cue ball.

Sporting metaphors such as that, in fact, are what are most often cited as the origin of the 'spin' in spin control and spin doctor. 'Topspin' is what you put on a baseball, or a golfball, or cueball, in order to control the direction of the ball. In dice, you put 'spin' on the dice in order to give the appearance that they've been fairly thrown, while the faces you want remain on top the whole time. As for the 'doctor' part of the compound, one can point to any of several figurative senses which might apply: from the relatively benign 'to revise, alter, or adapt,' to the more damaging 'tamper with,' to the out and out 'falsify.'

So as November draws near, you'll do well to be on the lookout for spin doctors and their many spin-offs: self-spin, counterspin, spin wars, and the inevitable spinlock (the result of too many spin doctors operating, I suppose).

Helen