Refudiate: The Shame All Americans Feel
Merriam-Webster, the dictionary to which we all refer when we need to know the definition of real English words, has just released to the world the top-searched words on its website. How proud all of us American-born folks feel to know that the official “Word of the Summer” isn’t a real word at all. It is a Palin-ism. Yes, our favorite bear-shootin’, gun-totin’, language-mangling former Vice Presidential candidate invented a word, using it not just on television but on Twitter as well. Americans immediately took to the internet as they shook their heads and said “What?” It has to be a real word, right? People don’t just make things up or make giant, glaring errors in speech when they were thisclose to the Oval Office, right?
"I used a sharpie to write it here, so it IS real."
Wrong. Sarah Palin said and typed “refudiate” just as though it means something. But at this point, as our Ambassador of Embarrassment, she shrugged off criticism, noting that William Shakespeare created new language all the time. Which is funnier: Sarah Palin flagrantly abusing her mother tongue or Sarah Palin comparing herself to Shakespeare? The jury’s still out on that.
Merriam-Webster stands firm on not having this freshly-coined term in our official lexicon, at least not yet. The same debate was raised when folks wanted to have “bootylicious” become part of our collective vocabulary. A big shout-out goes to M-W.com on that decision as well.
Perhaps Sarah Palin is just giving up on trying to make sense. Her family has become yet another reason for the rest of the world to think Americans are stupid. But “refudiate-gate” has served a purpose for the Alaskan clan: it has taken some of the focus off of the “Bristol Palin unwed teenaged mother” thing, and away from every sidelong glance to see if Bristol is or isn’t wearing her engagement ring from on-again, off-again fiancé/nude model Levi Johnston.
We might give Sarah Palin the benefit of the doubt and say that she threw herself in front of the bus, so to speak, to give Bristol a bit of breathing room. But that would require a few things that Mrs. P. just doesn’t have, like media savvy and intelligence. And it would be a pointless effort anyway, as young Bristol is participating on Dancing with the Stars with the condition that she be able to wear modest dresses. So far, teaser photos for the show have revealed that her interpretation of modesty is similar to her interpretation of abstinence.
Merriam-Webster has stated that the process of a slang term or word-hybrid (think ‘bodacious’ and ‘guesstimate’) becoming official is a long process and would require, among other provisions, common usage. The “common usage” exception is a back door into accepted language, and one that can cause hilarity if you type in an entertaining word to hear it read to you online. M-W.com is good like that. But don’t expect to hear a well-enunciated “refudiate” any time soon on the respected site. If it ever does make it into the dictionary, I’m giving up citizenship.
Who’s with me?