http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-talk-bushismsjan20,0,639700.story
George W. Bush's 'Bushisms' will be missed
America expects mangled dialect to make full recovery
By Christopher Borrelli | Tribune reporter
January 20, 2009
As of today, no longer will you watch your president improvise his way
toward coherence. No longer will you listen with suspense while the
leader of the free world manhandles Mother English into a balloon animal.
Many agree this is a good thing. But isn't there something to be said
for a president who is so empathetic that he understands "how hard it
is for you to put food on your family?" Like Thomas Jefferson, who
coined "belittle," and John Adams, who created "caucus," George W.
Bush has also given us some unique terms and phrasings—some of which
we don't want to see fade away:
Misunderestimate. verb. 1: to fail to estimate full worth because of
prior beliefs. Appears to date to Election Eve 2000. Different from
"underestimate" or "misunderstand" in that the act is snidely
presumptuous, not just a bad calculation, but one made with prejudice.
The Decider. noun. 1: the person who makes the final call, without
question or consideration of dissenting voices. In 2006, when the cry
to oust Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had reached a deafening
pitch, Bush told the press he was "The Decider."
Strategery. noun. 1: a vague secret plan behind an act of maneuvering.
2: the improvisational work of political consultants. Coined by
comedian Will Ferrell on "Saturday Night Live" to mock Bush's oratory
skills, it was later embraced by the White House to describe its own
workings.
Bush's poodle.noun. 1: a person who, out of misplaced loyalty to
another, damages himself. Not to be confused with "teacher's pet."
Coined by the British press to describe former Prime Minister Tony
Blair and his unceasing defense of President Bush, who later offered
this defense: "I've heard he's been called Bush's poodle. He's bigger
than that."
Heck of a job Brownie. exclamation. 1: ironic statement intended to
underline how much of a screw-up the subject has become. Originally
used, without that intent, by Bush, in reference to Federal Emergency
Management Agency head Michael Brown and his handling of Hurricane
Katrina. Likely to survive as an allusion to the Bush administration
itself.
cborre...@tribune.com
