Friday, September 19, 2008

Let's talk about "verbage"

In printed transcripts of an interview with Sarah Palin by Sean Hannity, who was basically feeding her lines, Palin is quoted as saying "It was an unfair attack on the verbiage that Senator McCain chose to use." All the news stories are printing it that way, but if you listen to the interview, she clearly said "verbage," not "verbiage." And she said "verbage" not once, but twice. Let's think about that for a moment.

Here's what the dictionary has to say:

verbiage |ˈvərbē-ij|
noun
speech or writing that uses too many words or excessively technical expressions.

There is no such word as "verbage," though.

In essence, Palin said that Obama had unfairly attacked the (speech or writing that uses too many words or excessively technical expressions) of John McCain. So Ms. Palin obviously doesn't even know the meaning of the word, much less how to pronounce it correctly, but that isn't going to stop her from using it anyway. While she thought she was criticizing Obama, she was actually unwittingly insulting her boss, John McCain. And we're supposed to believe that this... this... this mean-spirited MORON is qualified to be vice-president?

If any Republicans or McCain supporters are reading this, please, don't attack my verbage.

Watch this, if you don't believe me.


5 comments:

Suzy said...

I'm just shaking my head. I keep thinking of Twin Peaks when the dwarf comes from behind the red curtain and says, "It's happening again, it's happening again."

Anonymous said...

I saw some of Hannity's interview with Palin and I couldn't believe how easy he made it for her. Is this what passes for political journalism in the US media? It was a joke. She scares me.

I note that O'Reilly was being attacked by some of his viewers for giving Obama an easy ride. What did they want - a flaming cross?

Ed said...

SInging Bear: Yes, unfortunately, this is what passes for political journalism in the US. Is it any surprise that people in this country have no idea what is happening here or in the rest of the world? It would be funny if it wasn't so depressing.

Fran said...

Oh the beautiful "Jesus I'm sick of these people" tag- which I began to use and still use heartily since finding it at Suzy's...

Oh that Stewart clip- I could barely believe my eyes when I first saw it.

Sarah - she never fails to amaze me, and I mean that in the most negative way.

Anonymous said...

Anyone mistaking Sean Hannity for a "journalist" is probably the same type of person who still believes that this was an actual "interview," as opposed to what it really was: a campaign stop. A photo op. A softball piece. Actually, it was more like a "beachball" piece, as a real softball still has some actual heft.

The thing is, she doesn't know that that isn't a word. And she probably doesn't care. Why should she? The truth doesn't matter to her, or to anyone around her right now.

It also doesn't matter to the millions of people who will still be voting for her in a few short weeks.

THAT'S what scares me.