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===Economics===
===Economics===
* "There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk—that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras—it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments." &nbsp;— Speaking at a private fundraiser and surreptitiously recorded by a reporter with the footage subsequently leaked on various news outlets, Houston, Texas, July 18, 2008<ref name="Adventures in George W. Bushspeak">[http://www.politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm The latest Bushisms]</ref>
* "There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk—that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras—it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments." &nbsp;— Speaking at a private fundraiser and surreptitiously recorded by a reporter with the footage subsequently leaked on various news outlets, Houston, Texas, July 18, 2008<ref name="Adventures in George W. Bushspeak">[http://www.politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm The latest Bushisms]</ref> This coming from a guy with a Harvard MBA.


===Education===
===Education===

Revision as of 21:27, 2 December 2010

This article is about the occasional unconventional use of the English language by George W. Bush. For his political ideologies, see Political positions of George W. Bush. For his various foreign policy principles, see Bush Doctrine.
George W. Bush at a podium during an April 28, 2005 press conference.

Bushisms are unconventional words, phrases, pronunciations, malapropisms, and semantic or linguistic errors that have occurred in the public speaking of President of the United States George W. Bush and, much less notably, of his father, George H. W. Bush.[1][2][3] The term has become part of popular folklore and is the basis of a number of websites and published books. It is often used to caricature the two presidents. Common characteristics include malapropisms, the creation of neologisms, spoonerisms, stunt words and grammatically incorrect subject-verb agreement.

Discussion

Bush's use of the English language in formal and public speeches has spawned several books that document the statements. The first, Bushisms/President George Herbert Walker Bush in His Own Words, was released in 1992. A poem entitled "Make the Pie Higher", composed entirely of Bushisms, was compiled by cartoonist Richard Thompson.[4][5]

In 2008, the Plain English Campaign awarded George W. Bush a Lifetime Achievement Foot in Mouth Award for his "services to gobbledygook".[6][7] Conversely, linguist Mark Liberman of Language Log has suggested that Bush is not unusually error-prone in his speech, saying: "You can make any public figure sound like a boob, if you record everything he says and set hundreds of hostile observers to combing the transcripts for disfluencies, malapropisms, word formation errors and examples of non-standard pronunciation or usage... Which of us could stand up to a similar level of linguistic scrutiny?"[8] Nearly a decade after George W. Bush said "misunderestimated" in a speech, Philip Hensher called the term one of his "most memorable additions to the language, and an incidentally expressive one: it may be that we rather needed a word for 'to underestimate by mistake'."[9]

Notable statements

General

  • "They misunderestimated me."[10] — Bentonville, Arkansas; November 6, 2000
  • "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."[11] — Saginaw, Michigan; September 29, 2000
  • "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."[12] — Poplar Bluff, Missouri; September 6, 2004

Spoonerisms

  • "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."  —La Crosse, Wisconsin, October 18, 2000[13]
  • "If the terriers and bariffs are torn down, this economy will grow."  —January 2000[13]

Foreign affairs

  • "Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." — Addressing then-Australian Prime Minister John Howard at the APEC Summit, Sept. 7, 2007[14]

Economics

  • "There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk—that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras—it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments."  — Speaking at a private fundraiser and surreptitiously recorded by a reporter with the footage subsequently leaked on various news outlets, Houston, Texas, July 18, 2008[15] This coming from a guy with a Harvard MBA.

Education

  • "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"[5] — Florence, South Carolina; January 11, 2000
  • "As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured." — On the No Child Left Behind Act, Washington, D.C.; Sept. 26, 2007[16]
  • "Then you wake up at the high school level and find out that the illiteracy level of our children are appalling." —Washington, D.C.; Jan. 23, 2004[17]

See also

Richard Thompson's Richard's Poor Almanac: "Make the Pie Higher" (January 2001)

References

  1. ^ Bines, Jonathan (May 1992). Bushisms: President George Herbert Walker Bush in His Own Words. Workman Pub Co. ISBN 1-56305-318-7.
  2. ^ "George H.W. Bushisms". About: Political Humor. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
  3. ^ "The 'misunderestimated' president?". BBC. January 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-23. The word "Bushism" has been coined to label his occasional verbal lapses during eight years in office, which come to an end on 20 January. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Comics Reporter: Interview with Richard Thompson, January 25, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Make the Pie Higher!". Snopes.com. 2002. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  6. ^ "Bush leaves White House with Lifetime Achievement Award from Plain English Campaign". Plain English Campaign. www.plainenglish.co.uk. 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-15. [dead link]
  7. ^ "Bush gets Foot in Mouth award". News Scotsman. news.scotsman.com. 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  8. ^ Mark Liberman, "You say Nevada, I say Nevahda". January 03, 2004.
  9. ^ Hensher, Philip (21 July 2010). "Sarah Palin's struggle with English language". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  10. ^ "Top Ten Bushisms: The Miseducation of America". Time. January 11, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2009 (False malaprop). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ "Top Ten Bushisms: Fish Are Friends". Time. January 11, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
  12. ^ "Top Ten Bushisms: The Love Doctor is In". Time. January 11, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
  13. ^ a b Top 50 Bushisms from About.com’s political humor section.
  14. ^ 2007 in Bushisms
  15. ^ The latest Bushisms
  16. ^ http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/bushquotes/a/dumbbushquotes_3.htm
  17. ^ http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/bushquotes/a/topbushisms2004.htm

Further reading

  • Frank, Justin A. Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President (2004). ISBN 0-06-073670-4.
  • Miller, Mark Crispin. The Bush Dyslexicon (2001). ISBN 0-393-04183-2.
  • Weisberg, Jacob, ed. George W. Bushisms: The Accidental Wit and Wisdom of Our 43rd President. ISBN 0-7407-4456-9.
  • New Republic. Bushisms: President George Herbert Walker Bush in His Own Words (May 1992). ISBN 1563053187.
  • Sherman, B. Elwin. George W. Bush – On The Trips Of His Tongue – A Linguistic Legacy. ISBN 978-1430317951.
Wikiquote has quotations related to George W. Bush.
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