Sarah Palin 'Refudiate' Word Needs Definition
When Palin's 'refudiate' hit Twitter a few days ago, it became the new hot word of the day. However, it was basically just a misspelling of repudiate, and not a word Palin was trying to make up. Yet, now that it has spread, Palin has taken credit for coining it, and for making up words like Shakespeare did.
The definition of repudiate is to "reject emphatically as unfounded, untrue or unjust," according to The Free Dictionary. In the context of her Tweet, Palin wanted people to repudiate plans for a mosque near Ground Zero. However, she is now asking us to refudiate it.
The Sarah Palin refudiate word is buzz-worthy, but, if it is going to be a real new word, it has to have a meaning. It cannot use the repudiate definition, although it is the closest thing to Palin's original intent. If it is going to have the shelf life of other new political words, it needs to have a clearer meaning.
Palin evoked 'misunderestimated' and 'wee-wee'd up' as the forefathers of refudiate. 'Misunderestimate' is George W. Bush's classic phrase, which took on a life of its own over eight years. The website Unword Dictionary calls it "To misunderstand someone's behavior, writing, or speech in such a way as to be led to underestimate that person."
As for 'wee-wee'd up,' Robert Gibbs came up with his own definition, as it referred to people who "get nervous for no particular reason." Gibbs was likely trying to dig at Palin's base, but she wound up using it to defend refudiate anyway.
Since the repudiate definition is taken, Palin's refudiate definition has to be a little more original. It will have to expand on repudiate, just as 'misunderestimate' expanded on underestimate. But those two new words were created by accident, whereas Gibbs' 'wee-wee'd up' was already planned out in his head, and had a definition to go with it.
However, wee-wee'd up was relatively forgotten in the political lexicon until a few days ago. The Sarah Palin refudiate buzz may last a little longer, even if it does not have a real definition yet.
Sources
The Free Dictionary- "repudiate"
The Unword Dictionary- "misunderestimate Definition"
The Globe and Mail- "Refudiate this: Palin defends word-mangling malapropism"
Published by Robert Dougherty
Author of a trilogy of Lost books, concluding with "Lost: It Only Ends Once" now available at Amazon and iUniverse. Readers can now go to my Yahoo Sports section to see the majority of my new stories.... View profile
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Sarah Palin Refudiated
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6 Comments
Post a CommentIt would have the same deifinition as repudiate as that was the word she meant to say."refuse to accept or be associated with"
Her brilliance never surprises me. Re before a word means to do again. Has Palin Fudiated before?
Repudiate...(to reject as unjust. Refute...(to argue against) Refudiate...(to argue against because it is unjust)
i see you're ok with corpse-man...
does that make Obama an idiot?
Hey Saul according to the article she just started using it today - not "for a while". Guess most liberals have trouble actually reading and comprehending what they are commenting on. I can see November from my house.
It is a word born of ignorance, not creativity. The dumb-ass was thinking repudiate, instead said "refudiate." She's been saying it for awhile now and knows it. She can't take it back or she looks stupid. If she continues to use it -- and she will -- it could become just another word. But her overall dishonesty is sickening. All she has to do is admit she thought she was using "repudiate" and that would be that. People do it all the time, like when they're trying to "rememberize" something, "irregardless" of intent. She's used the word out of ignorance and now she's just pathetically trying to nominate herself as creative, which she is all-too-evidently not...