3 Notable 'Pelosi-isms' From the Former Speaker

Nancy Pelosi is retiring from Congress after 39 years, and her hometown San Francisco Chronicle has compiled a list of notable "Pelosi-isms" from over the years. In the view of Chronicle columnist Joe Garofoli, the former House speaker "was not a soaring orator," but she nonetheless managed to be a "master communicator." Here are three of them:

• "Don't agonize, organize." This was Pelosi's tweak of a similar phrase from labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill, who told people before his death, "Don't mourn, organize." Pelosi used the phrase often to urge people to stop whining, and it "represents her bias toward action, not grandstanding," writes Garofoli.

• "Know your why." Pelosi gave the advice to many young or aspiring lawmakers, the idea being to "lock in the core values that will motivate your decisions," writes Garofoli. As her former chief of staff John Lawrence puts it: "She always felt that there are times when you're going to have to take a risk, so you've got to have some sort of moral grounding."
• "When you're in negotiations, the last place to get weak knees is at the end." This one is self-explanatory, but Garofoli writes that Pelosi was particularly adept at patiently waiting out her opponents during an impasse.

See the full column for more examples.