Sarah Palin's 'refudiate' named dictionary's word of the year

The day after 5 million viewers watched Sarah Palin’s reality TV show and in the same week she announced a nationwide book tour, Alaska’s high-profile former governor has gained some further unexpected publicity.
 
And get this, it’s from some seriously intelligent wordsmiths, who chose the famous –- or infamous --  Palin phrase “refudiate” as their word of the year.   

The made-up word tweeted and deleted in minutes on  Palin’s Twitter feed  was announced Monday as the year’s best new word by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

The elision of “refute” and “repudiate” Palin tweeted in a post in July  lit up the social-media world and was even featured in headlines in the national news media. It follows last year’s Facebook-themed word of the year: Unfriend.  

Palin’s full tweet read:

"Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate."

Palin has more than 300,000 Twitter followers and more than 2.4 million Facebook fans and on Sunday debuted her reality TV show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

Famous for her folksy diction and writing talking points on her hands, Palin’s new-found literary recognition will tickle and torment her supporters and critics in equal measure.

The NOAD editors wrote in a release: “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.’”

The final definition reads:

refudiate verb used loosely to mean “reject”: she called on them to refudiate the proposal to build a mosque. [origin — blend of refute and repudiate]

--  Craig Howie

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Image: Sarah Palin signs a skateboard on a campaign stop. Credit:  Julie Jacobson / Associated Press

Comments

[Adam]

It's like a smoothie.

[NorthernCA Teacher]

I cannot believe that Ms. Palin will be immortalized as the "Word-Smith" for New Oxford.

There are other places to immortalize her and they are not as academic as a dictionary.

[Shaun Landry]

Sarah Palin gets a word in The Oxford Dictionary?

It's official. I hate everything.

[Rich Seymour]

Refudiate is a great word in that it makes me forget exactly what refute and repudiate mean. Perhaps by merging words we form logical conjunctions of the original meanings, on one hand simplifying and on the other enriching our vibrant language.

Palin 20never.

[trampandthief]

I've got a word for the New Oxford folk: "republicinate" - v. to gratuitously defile the English language by lending credence to nonsensical words or phrases uttered in ignorance by limelight seeking characters, usually of a political nature. e.g: "Some would republicanate Sarah Palin for her quaint allocutions, though her critics greatly misunderestimated her oratory skills."

[KodiakMarine]

It's pretty amusing to watch "Tree Hugging," "Liberal," "Progressive," weenies get completely unhinged by "dumb" people like Sarah Palin. Go smoke your joint, eat your quiche and cheer for your newly elected "Slick Willy" Governor to pull whats left of California down the rabbit hole of debt while the whole nation watches how "smart" you socialist morons are.

[Kittybarfola]

If one is going to lower their standards and expose their ignorance, it's going to be New Oxford American Dictionary for embarrassing themselves for adopting a word that's made up. The publishers are probably Republicans, hence the spectacle.

[R. Santos]

Wow, KodiakMarine! You really know all the stereotypes and obviously talk the party talk, do you have any original thoughts or is this not encouraged at the compound? Btw/ The California debt along with the Real Estate meltdown occurred all under your terminator boy. Yeah!!!! Semper-Fi!!!!

You know it really scares me to hear people speak like you and Palin. I'm sure you are proud of the comparison but it's just darn scary that there is such ignorance in this country... and if you are really a marine, no wonder the wars are in such a mess. Do you even know what socialism is or did you just hear that word at the grown-ups table?

[Deepwater805]

In the world of text speak where LOL, OMG, and WTF, have become not only common place, and widely understood, but widely accepted too. What's the big deal about Palin's new word? I make up a new word almost everyday. Of course I'm usually driving in gridlock, and the new word is usually invented to describe someone else's driving skills, but hey, I know what I mean.

[STEVE T.]

Be careful what you wish for you may get it and then you will see how bad these people will run the country,Christine O'Donnell proved that point of intelligence she did not have any and you will find that Sarah Palin should be in the centerfold of a magazine and not the leader of a tea party unless it is at the playboy mansion.

[ABG]

@KodiakMarine: Those were a lot of big words, right?

[GUY ONDOA]

WOW! This is an appalling development. English language varies from England to various former and current colonies but the very essence of the diction cannot be questioned. By the New Oxford American Dictionary standards, it is neither The Queen's language nor Shakespeare's any more than that of nincompoops. Why is stupidty so celebrated in the USA?

[Brenn]

Let's create the word "palinate" which will mean to say something stupid and false and others adopt as true and real. The followers of this philosophy will be called "Palin Supporters".

[Brenn]

Let's create the word "palinate" which will mean to say something stupid and false and others adopt as true and real. The followers of this philosophy will be called "Palin Supporters".

[mizwidget]

I Things will improve when we find some native American English speakers for our candidates...

[mizwidget]

And checking my last post I realize that I'm not running for office soon, either...

[susan]

.What a silly article... Palin is famous for a lot more than her folksy talk and writing prompts on her hand. How about Palin is famous for helping energize the TP movement and massive turnout to the polls to give an historic defeat to the Dem party. But that would be too honest for the Backwards Times. See you in Nov. 2012.

[susan]

I new mental disorder in the pyschiatric handbook. Palin Deranged Syndrome. A pitiful mental disorder that effects people who are intolerant, racist, bigots, who think they are smarter than everyone else, yet they are severly deluded on many fronts. Bitter haters who imagine they are better than Governor Palin. See also liberalism.

[Jeff Davis]

The sad thing is, of course, that in all probability she didn't have the foggiest idea that what she wrote wasn't a real word (at the time). Now that Oxford has given its blessing, I suppose she'll even get the smart folks vote.

[IBCOOL]

SNL will have a field day with this, thank you New Oxford American Dictionary.

[Manny Caldera]

How about we "refudiate" Sarah Palin?

[waskoma]

To Shaun Landry: Your AWESOME!

[TheZeeman]

Stupid people should not be honored for making up words. But, then again, Oxford also used a Paris Hilton quote and added it to their book of quotations last year.

So Oxford is in the gutter trying to promote its terrible line of texts now with vapid superficial women.

[TheZeeman]

Kodiak Marine, "eat your quiche"? What are you, some kind of idiotic caricature of the military dad in American Beauty? Your ad hominem attacks are typical of the GOP's mindless army of dullards.

[Belle]

Disappointed with New Oxford English dictionary; this smacks of trying to be "relevant". Refute and repudiate are precise words. It's not like our society suffers from being too articulate. Why dumb down the language to grab some attention?

More disappointed with Kodiak Marine for his sheerly mean attack on those who don't share whatever his views are, and with the editors who "approved" his comment.

It's like getting slapped in the face first thing in the morning. Thanks guys.

[Erin Todd]

Why celebrate stupidity?

[ItsAlexis]

Maybe they're just paving the way for the next new word: "Booooooooo"

[Mestengo]

Paris Hilton in flannel = Sarah Palin

[Phred22]

Sarah Palin now joins the likes of Warren Harding, still remembered for coining the word, "normalcy" and arguably the most mediocre of 20th-century presidents. He also was a Republican.

[Charles]

Sarah Palin for Prezudint. Hey look everybody, I made up a new word!

[Engl. Eng]

I believe this article uses the word 'elision' when it means 'portmanteau'.

[Bob O'Day]

NO!!!
A Ground Zero Mosque does not stab me through the heart because many Muslims were killed on 9/11.

What does stab me through the heart are those who think The United States Constitution sets conditions with regard to freedom of religion.

What does stab me in the heart is stupid wannabes, like the adulteress Sarah Palin, using non-existent words in an attempt to sound intelligent to her mouth breathing base of equally uneducated primitives.

What does stab me in the heart is when clueless people, like Ms. Palin, say they to speak for me.

What does stab me in the heart are Governors from Socialist States who quit their jobs barely halfway through their first term.

What does stab me through the heart are pinheads in fake charity states daring to refer to themselves as "Real Americans."

[k]

It amazes me of how many closet moles find it easy to put down someone for actually having an original thought, while they have never had one. If Obama would have said repudiate (certainly not against building a mosque near ground zero), the moles would have praised him. And if you think Shakespear was one person, instead of a bunch of drunks telling stories at a seedy pub in old town, you might be mistaken.

[Bob O'Day]

If President Obama used the word ‘repudiate’ we Americans wouldn’t have said “boo” because that is an actual English word.
I know using actual English words is an Earth shattering event when you vote ‘fer’ people like Palin but we American use actual English words all the time so it’s no big deal for us.
‘K’, the adulteress from Wasilla said 'refudiate' in an attempt to sound smart to her meth lab building base of ditch digging illiterates then tried to walk it back when her research team, working in seclusion for days, told her ‘refudiate’ is not actually a word.
Palin then tried to compare herself to the writer of Macbeth to look less foolish to folks like y’all ‘K’
“The Bimbo and the Bard”; kinda’ sounds like a new sitcom on Fox.
And if you're honestly questioning the very existence of William Shakespeare you're going to have to come up with a bit more proof than some hayseed conspiracy theory cooked up by you and ‘yer’ kin down at ‘yer’ local waterin’ hole.
“Because we say so” isn’t proof of anything ‘K.’

[blackone]

Life in Amerikkka gets ridiculouser and ridiculouser.

[Bob O'Day]

The bottom line;
'Educated' is hard!
'Moronic' is easy!
And, in spite of what folks like 'Misunderestimated' Bush, 'Potatoe' Quayle and 'Refudiate' Palin say, neo-confederates are just plain old lazy...both in body and in mind.
The neo-cons proudly stopped learning in Junior High, if they make it that far, and treat, as a personal insult, those of us who continue to try and better ourselves through education.
We've all heard them proudly mock 'college boys, as if education was something to be reviled instead of embraced.

Do us all a favor all you Cletus-Rays and Ellie-Maes out there, the next time you're sick, don't go to those 'college boy' doctors.
Take your sickness to your fellow, education hating, neo-con pals down at your local meth-lab.
Have the courage of 'yer' hayseed convictions 'fer' once in 'yer’ worthless, America hatin’ lives.

[Letshaveateaparty]

I get a KICK out of you Palin haters. I mean she is FAR more of a self made woman then say.........Babs "Call me Senator" Boxer. I would like to nominate President Obama for using the word "Corps-man"(Spelled Corpsman)but pronounced Core-men, yet the Harvard Grad, the Elitist him self, NOT ONCE, but over 3 times pronounced it CORPS-MEN!........LOL! You Left coasters.........You look at her as an environmental offender........OMG, how about ALGORE, Mr. 30,000 sq foot house on the coast with 9 bed rooms and 6 bathrooms with not ONE solar panel or "green" piece of anything...........FOR ONE PERSON............LOLOLOLOROTFLOL! When are you people going to get your head out of the sand, And guess what? I drive a 45mpg Hybrid, a CNG Civic and a PHEV. My house is FILLED with CFL bulbs and I am an Alt Fuels manager...........Get a load of that, I do more for the environment then ALGORE..............and most of YOU!

[ParkerRules]

Now can we move on to actually mock someone that has more gaffs like...maybe Obama, our Harvard graduate who said these things:

Februrary 2010 .... when Obama mispronuncicated “corpsman” as “corpse-man” ..sorta, kinda like Kellie Pickler pronouncing salmon with an (l). At least Kellie was not President. At least we don't have to learn how to "speak Australian" to get that he has been to Harvard and is still an idiot:

But here are a few of the other STUPID THINGS OBAMA HAS SAID:
.......all 57 states:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws
.......time has changed for come (Repeated twice)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m913UIMw0As
.......With our country founded more than 20 centuries ago,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiRhHqlzaG4
......the FBI’s 100 days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdhvPy1LIp0
...."greater inefficiencies to our health care system".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z16iVri3Kzk
......"countries like Europe"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nGXqsKchPk
....."in our fight to halt the rise of privacy"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGW2TF1olA
......"and Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUCVL2tLICg
...."And let’s face it, everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma and they end up taking up a hospital bed. It costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early, and they got some treatment, and ah, a breathalyzer, or an inhalator. I mean, not a breathalyzer, ah, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian for that…"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxxxGUeZtno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr7zhnctF4c

[jerry]

I could sware I have heard this word before she said it but she gets the credit for it. I'm not sure who said it though,

[Mary Tice]

Woe is me! (a term my grandmother from Iowa liked to use) is there no such thing as a sense of humor among certain political wonks? Twitter requires putting your message in a minimal format, right? Any one with a good vocabularly would know exactly what two words she was combining and why she combined them. It was a humorous way of blending two word to save time and space. I've seen her recently in interviews and she is very verbal and doesn't take herself too seriously, as many other politicians do. Would you believe that she was criticized this week for winking during an interview. Give me a BREAK! I find that kind of pompous judgement offensive --are you listening Dennis Praeger?

[texanmomma]

This is soo funny... and everytime someone who doesnt like Palin Comments on this they are just giving her more attention.... You arent going to change anyones mind about her and last time I checked she was an American like myself... And honestly shes doing more about our Country then we are sitting here typing on a blog.... Pull the plank out of your own eye before you try and point out other peoples weaknesses

[Maddog]

Excuse me while I garmit. (gag + vomit)

[Pied Piper of Warshington]

Well, the greatest, most literate minds of the Republican party have clearly gathered here to set us all straight.

[Angela]

It's not a real word. Repudate (the original) comes from re - pudet. But you see, there's already a latin root "fudet" meaning "to loosen."

Re - repeated
fud(et) - loosen
iate - to do/perform

The word actually means the repeated loosening of something, most likely figurative (such as liberating conversation.)

English consists of pretty much only latin based words. Even Facebook's unfriend is appropriate given the roots and prefixes we use. We can't just make up words without researching what they actually mean.

[Bill Nighy]

Lest we forget: in March '09 President Obama said he wanted the American people to have "a fulsome accounting" of his stimulus plan. "Fulsome" means "disgusting, excessive, insincere."

[Bill Nighy]

Funny how no one raked Paul Harvey over the coals for HIS invented words:

*Skyjacking
*Guesstimate

et al.

Libs are hypocrites. They have no substantive argument which is readily apparent in, for example, Bob O'Day's blathering. When you have nothing of substance or intelligence to say, you resort to name-calling.

Unless you are a psychologist who has the person in question as a patient, you don't get to say Palin is unhinged, psychotic, or offer any other psychiatric diagnoses. You are not qualified. Unless you have actually done the demographical research, and can show same, you don't get to say that Palin followers are "mouth-breathing...uneducated...meth lab building...ditch digging illierates." You are not qualified. It only makes you sound small. And arrogant. And elitist. Trust me; you ain't "all that."

Also, if you are going to rip someone for their grammar, you better make sure you own is faultless.

I won't get into the Shakespeare controversy, because it is obvious you've done no actual research there either, and thus are not qualified to speak on the issue. Starting to see a pattern here? (hint: it's a little more than a watering hole theory).

I'd challenge you to a battle of wits, Bob O'Day or whatever your actual name is, but you are clearly unarmed.

[Sharky]

The New Oxford American Dictionary is dead to me.

[chris]

refutiiate is a portmanteau you idiot not an elision

[Geo Whetstine]

Well,well,well,lookie here. Seems the Devine Miss P turns out to be rah-thur avant garde. Drives the poor "intellectuals "crazy. Your jealous is showing girls.