Think words don’t matter? According to the NYTimes Book Review of Anthony Appiah’s new book on experimental philosophy:

If you read sentences with words like “honor” and “respect” you tend to be more polite, minutes later, than if you had read sentences with words like “obnoxious” and “bluntly.”

I am feeling a little surly this morning, perhaps because I watched three episodes of The Wire last night, perhaps because I’ve been unable to write more than a few sentences without checking realclearpolitics. So, before I head out for a second cup of coffee, I thought I’d see which candidates’ website might make me more polite. I would, after all, like to greet my colleagues with a gentle touch on this most—to put it bluntly—super of days.

Hillary has “dignity” buried as the title of one of her ads, but otherwise, the site neither makes me want to punch people or carry their heavy bags. The verbs include drive, blog, click, make, do, and build. Very anglosaxon.

Obama, for all his own rhetoric, is a little short on honor on his site as well. He does have “hope” (below the fold), and some relatives of honor (inspiration, belief), but still, I’m largely left puttering around “involved, register, supporter, opportunity.” Very latin.

McCain is ready to lead on day one. (!?) I had assumed I’d become nicer to my colleagues after his site, but it turns out honor is even hard to find on McCain’s site. If you use search, it does show up in 108 different results, however…

Romney is “True Strength for America’s Future,” making sure even in his slogan to cover all bases (latin AND anglosaxon), but no honor or respect here.

What to do? I took a final shot, seeking politeness from the NYTimes debate analyzer. I got no honor from the Democrats, but found, at least, a little respect—with six mentions apiece, I opened my door and went scurrying off to drink some coffee.

As the Appiah article found, people are more likely to be kind to strangers when they are near the smell of baking bread than the smell of a dry good store. I hate to be obnoxious, but the candidates sites were, on the whole, more dry goods than sweet yeast.