Canadian Op/ED: War prez slaughters the language

[nodictators]

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Winnipeg/Charles_Adler/2004/10/09/661694.html

Sat, October 9, 2004

---snip---

Bush wasn't happy with his answer, and he was really unhappy that he'd run out of bad material with which to offer it. And so he paused and asked the moderator if his time was up.

He was told he still had time and he did. But he didn't have an answer and so he looked to the audience, cracked that famous aw-shucks manure-eating grin and said, "I thought the moderator was telling me my clock was up."

My clock was up.

---snip---

It gives some of us the impression that last night was the president's eleventh hour. And his time may be up.

[NJCher]

1. And that guy's a former bush supporter

Good line to remember for November 3: bush, your clock is not only cleaned, but up.


Cher

[siliconefreak]

2. Sad, sad, sad...

The sad truth is that many Americans (especially in the southern states) think that using slang and mangling the English language makes Bush more "likable" or more of a "regular guy". They actually think that his horrible communication skills are part of his charm.

[NinetySix]

3. I wonder whether malapropisms will henceforth...

...always be known as 'Bushisms,' in much the same way as spoken letter transpositions are known as 'Spoonerisms.' Check out these, also included in the article:

>snip<

He also sounded like a man who was difficult to take seriously when he uttered phrases that belong not to a debate but an abattoir for the English language.

The president talked about "rumours on the Internets." It was an answer to a serious question about the possibility of reinstituting the draft.

The president talked about "removing troops and replacing them with weapons" in trying to explain downsizing the military overseas in places like Korea and Europe.

Bush said he hoped that scaling down those forces could be done as rapidly as possible, or as he put it: "I want to make it more fastful."

Bush, in trying to pose as an environmentalist, said he wanted to increase the wetlands by three million.

He said, "I propose the hydrogen automobile. I believe in off-road diesel engines. The quality air is cleaner."