'Misunderestimate' Adult Illiteracy at Your Own Risk -- 14% Already Do
Of Bushisms and Adult Illiteracy
New York Daily News Rips Outgoing President's Bushisms
A Bushism is a term coined by outgoing President George W. Bush. Bushisms are known for being a mixture of inimitable jargon and glaring misuse of terminology. Over time they have morphed into a set of terms, of which "misunderestimate" is the cream of the crop.
Live Science Reveals 14% Adult Illiteracy Rate in the U.S.
As readers are snickering about Bushism use and even go online to vote for their favorite Bushisms, it appears that they fail to appreciate - or perhaps succeed to misunderestimate - the sheer number of American adults who are unable to read. While President Bush may have declared they "misunderestimated me," at least he could read.
The Numbers Game of Illiteracy
The latest available figures of adult illiteracy are dated for the year 2003, some six years ago. They bear out that one of seven adults - a total of 32 million - lacks the basic skills that would allow them to read something as simple as a print ad, or something as complex as a ballot.
Following up with the National Center for Education Statistics, it appears that the State of California faces a 23% illiteracy rate. This is based on the 2003 adult population size of 26,029,840, and also includes those who could not be tested because of language barriers.
Los Angeles County evidenced 33% illiteracy alone, while smaller and wealthier Orange County still showed 26% of illiterate adults. Lowest California illiteracy rates were found in Marin, Nevada, El Dorado, and Placer Counties, all of which came in at 7%. The highest illiteracy rate was found in Imperial County with 41%.
By comparison, Colorado, with a 2003 adult population of 3,385,807 residents, came in with only 10% of illiterate adults. The most literate county is Douglas County with only 4% of adult illiteracy, while small Costilla County ranked highest with 25%. Denver County was comfortably in the middle with 16%.
Sources: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/08/2009-01-08_misunderestimate_tops_list_of_notable_bu-3.html; http://www.livescience.com/culture/090110-illiterate-adults.html; http://nces.ed.gov/naal/estimates/StateEstimates.aspx
Published by Sylvia Cochran - Featured Contributor in Automotive, Politics, Travel and Lifestyle
Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing -- full-time -- since 2005. SEO-optimized Internet copy includes news analysis, political Op/Ed and parenting as well as a... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentIt is sad to see the illiteracy rate a bit higher than it needs to be. I know a few people who can't read or even spell all that great. A personally it annoy's me. English was my best subject though sometimes my comments to articles would say otherwise. I type too fast. Other than that I have never found Bush smar and I laugh at his made up words. Has the guy got a clue, yet?
Great job, priceless headline: Misunderestimate!
Interesting view on a funny, but sad subject. Thanks.
How I will not miss this president; let me count the ways...
Leading by example at its finest!
Great article,nicely done.
we'll never misunderestimate you sylvia
Good article, I like the way it was written. It points out the important fact that too many of us are putting a humorous face on the illiteracy of America. The sad fact is that many of those that can read, do so at very low levels.