'Refudiate' From Sarah Palin Tops Dictionary's Words of Summer
Tom Diemer
Correspondent
Posted:
09/7/10
To "refudiate" or not to "refudiate." Merriam-Webster has declared Sarah Palin's made-up verb its 2010 "Word of Summer." The respected publisher says the pseudo word is the one most-often searched by users of its online dictionary.
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former governor of Alaska, used it twice in July, once on a news show and later in a Twitter posting where she called on peaceful Muslims to "refudiate" the plan to build a mosque near ground zero in Lower Manhattan.
Palin deleted the non-word, replacing it with another tweet, saying "peaceful New Yorkers" should "refute the Ground Zero mosque plan." Uh, maybe she meant repudiate? In an effort to put an end to the razzing she was getting, she posted yet again, arguing that the whole contretemps was Shakespearian. "'Refudiate,' 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.' English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!"
We can thank George W. Bush for "misunderestimated," while President Obama gave us wee-wee'd up.
Other summer favorites from Merriam-Webster, sayeth the AP, include "inception" and "despicable," both from summer movies, and "opulent" to describe Chelsea Clinton's wedding.
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former governor of Alaska, used it twice in July, once on a news show and later in a Twitter posting where she called on peaceful Muslims to "refudiate" the plan to build a mosque near ground zero in Lower Manhattan.
Palin deleted the non-word, replacing it with another tweet, saying "peaceful New Yorkers" should "refute the Ground Zero mosque plan." Uh, maybe she meant repudiate? In an effort to put an end to the razzing she was getting, she posted yet again, arguing that the whole contretemps was Shakespearian. "'Refudiate,' 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.' English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!"
We can thank George W. Bush for "misunderestimated," while President Obama gave us wee-wee'd up.Other summer favorites from Merriam-Webster, sayeth the AP, include "inception" and "despicable," both from summer movies, and "opulent" to describe Chelsea Clinton's wedding.