Who said anything about her creativity, Shakespearean or otherwise? Did you read the OUP piece? My point was simply that those who sneered at her did so because they think themselves her intellectual superior and that, if they really were such, they would have known that the word in fact has a history, etc. Bear in mind there are such things are portmanteau words. Wikipedia, for instance, according to which "The word "turducken" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2010 along with the linguistic coinage by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who merged "refute" and "repudiate" and minted the word "refudiate", which Lewis Carroll would likely have enjoyed."
Well - at the risk of making too much of this - Palin came pretty close: '"Refudiate," "misunderestimate," "wee-wee'd up." English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!'
And is a thorough knowledge of back-issues of the Fort Worth Gazette and the Atlanta Constitution, and the works of Senator Mike Dewine, really a prerequisite for anything at all? - 'they think themselves her intellectual superior and that, if they really were such, they would have known that the word in fact has a history.'
Well, Donald, I agree that we shouldn't make too much of this. I have to confess, though, that I like both refudiate and misunderestimate, especially the latter, because people can be incorrectly underestimated (of course, they can be incorrectly overestimated as well). I still think, though, that people who jump up and call somebody else dumb should be wary, lest something like the Oxford English Dictionary decides to make their point moot. Finding politicians who make dumb remarks is a pretty easy sport. Remember Twain's line: "Imagine you are an idiot. And imagine you are elected to Congress. But I repeat myself."
We can agree that confusing two similar words should not disqualify anyone from public office. I am reminded of Clive James's defence of Margaret Thatcher's merging of Rumpelstiltskin and Solzhenitsyn into "Solzhenitskin" - "a truly original coinage, so startling and resonant that I have employed it ever since".
So, the people who saw in "refudiate" an example of Palin's Shakespearean creativity know this, right?
ReplyDeleteWho said anything about her creativity, Shakespearean or otherwise? Did you read the OUP piece? My point was simply that those who sneered at her did so because they think themselves her intellectual superior and that, if they really were such, they would have known that the word in fact has a history, etc. Bear in mind there are such things are portmanteau words. Wikipedia, for instance, according to which "The word "turducken" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2010 along with the linguistic coinage by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who merged "refute" and "repudiate" and minted the word "refudiate", which Lewis Carroll would likely have enjoyed."
ReplyDeleteWell - at the risk of making too much of this - Palin came pretty close: '"Refudiate," "misunderestimate," "wee-wee'd up." English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!'
ReplyDeleteAnd is a thorough knowledge of back-issues of the Fort Worth Gazette and the Atlanta Constitution, and the works of Senator Mike Dewine, really a prerequisite for anything at all? - 'they think themselves her intellectual superior and that, if they really were such, they would have known that the word in fact has a history.'
Well, Donald, I agree that we shouldn't make too much of this. I have to confess, though, that I like both refudiate and misunderestimate, especially the latter, because people can be incorrectly underestimated (of course, they can be incorrectly overestimated as well). I still think, though, that people who jump up and call somebody else dumb should be wary, lest something like the Oxford English Dictionary decides to make their point moot. Finding politicians who make dumb remarks is a pretty easy sport. Remember Twain's line: "Imagine you are an idiot. And imagine you are elected to Congress. But I repeat myself."
ReplyDeleteWe can agree that confusing two similar words should not disqualify anyone from public office. I am reminded of Clive James's defence of Margaret Thatcher's merging of Rumpelstiltskin and Solzhenitsyn into "Solzhenitskin" - "a truly original coinage, so startling and resonant that I have employed it ever since".
ReplyDelete