Bushlingo is rich in malapropisms. The simplest occurs when an intended word is displaced by one that is similar in sound or cadence, as in the wannabe-stirring pronouncement that "we cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile." The word "hostile" is similar, kind of, to "hostage," but unfortunately it is opposite in meaning, so that the effect of the malapropism is to depict the United States not as a nation under attack but as an aggressor. In the Bushlingo sentence, "we are making steadfast progress," it would appear that the On-Message President meant to say "steady progress"; nevertheless, "steadfast progress" is not without meaning. Ludicrous in Bushlingo, the near-miss might even have had a touch of grandeur in a more able mouth, say that of Winston Churchill. There's less ambiguity in the assertion that "reading is the basics of all learning"; surely the Education President meant to say "basis," but perhaps his spongy brain had been infiltrated by the conservative slogan, "Back to Basics." Another example of simple malapropism occurs in the defiant "I don't have to accept their tenants," where the college-level word "tenets" proves to be beyond the The Uniter's linguistic competence; the substitute "tenants" inadvertently presents him not as an embattled orator but as a testy landlord.
Bushlingo deploys malapropisms more excitingly when it replaces the anticipated word with a coinage, as in the piteous Bartlett's-quotation-quality wail, "don't misunderestimate me." "Misunderestimate" is a portmanteau comprised of the "mis" in "mistake" or "misjudge" and "underestimate" and seems to mean something like "don't underestimate me in a bad way." Perhaps, deep in his heart, the guy knows that it is impossible to underestimate him. There is less self-betrayal but equal novelty in the insight that "the United States and Russia are in the midst of a transformationed relationship," where "transform" and "formation" are packed into an overcrowded portmanteau. An even less less clever coinage appears in the Bushlingoid judgment that "this issue doesn't resignate with the people." "Resignate" and the intended "resonate" are near homophones; so close in rapid speech that the difference between the two is obvious only to those who can read. A very similar example is contained in the proclamation "I want to reduce our nuclear capacities to the level commiserate with keeping the peace." "Commensurate" is too hard a word for someone who's never seen it in print.
Coming soon: subject-verb agreement in Bushlingo.
How can this brilliant tuteledge have gone without comment until now. It scholarship is only noninflammagated by it's brillig humor. It is with great redress that I undertake the tortoisiian task of complementing you on your wonderful assay
Posted by: joyce stillman ps 217 class of 56 | September 10, 2015 at 06:36 PM