An unquestionable buzzmaker in 2010, the word refudiate instantly evokes the name of Sarah Palin, who tweeted her way into a flurry of media activity when she used the word in certain statements posted on Twitter. Critics pounced on Palin, lampooning what they saw as nonsensical vocabulary and speculating on whether she meant “refute” or “repudiate.”Last night 5 million people tuned in to see the premiere of "Sarah Palin's Alaska", the largest viewing TLC has ever had for the launch of a new series.
From a strictly lexical interpretation of the different contexts in which Palin has used “refudiate,” we have concluded that neither “refute” nor “repudiate” seems consistently precise, and that “refudiate” more or less stands on its own, suggesting a general sense of “reject.”
As Dave Weigel says "It's Sarah Palin's world; we just live in it."
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3 comments:
I think it is God's world, Sarah Palin is one of the ones trying to keep as a place woth being in.
Back in the '70s, the word "expedious" was used by some where I worked. A combination of "expeditious" and "expedient" (my guess). Apparently, it did not travel, and never caught on.
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