The Case of the Vanishing Bush-isms

Some find them irrelevant, some find them funny, and others see them as downright distressing, but no one denies the presence of what have been termed Bush-isms: the verbal blunders that continually plague our Commander-in Chief. Yet, despite their ubiquity, it seems as though some of the President's foul-ups are being left on the White House's cutting-room floor, and out of the President's official transcripts.

According to The Washington Post, some transcript-watchers have caught quite a few instances of quote-cleaning. While many examples of the phenomenon involve Bush's own slips, one of the more egregious allegations concerns press secretary Ari Fleischer's remark that Americans "need to watch what they say." At first, the controversial phrase didn't appear in the White House transcripts at all. Citing such infractions as evidence, critics of the administration's record-keeping ways have accused Bush's team of attempting to "rewrite history."

As the Bush administration continues to deal with the presidential blooper reel, many of us on the sidelines may be prone to reevaluating our own dysfunctional relationship to the native tongue. So, if you're interested in negotiating the divide between what we say and what we mean, we wish you the best of luck … and recommend the following reads.

The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder
by Mark Crispin Miller
While a veritable cottage industry of books concerning both Bush and the 2000 election has sprung up over the past 18 months, Miller separates his volume from the pack by focusing on the language of the "misunderestimated" President. More than just a comprehensive collection of grammatical goofs and mortifying malapropisms, The Bush Dyslexicon attempts to understand Bush's popularity through examining the medium that, arguably, elected him: television. With a campaign strategy composed of virtually gaffe-proof, made-for-TV "messages" -- along with the help of television's increasingly right-wing cadre of pundits -- the Bush presidency, according to Miller, seems to be a perfect match for our media-saturated age of soundbite politics. Never holding back his outrage, Miller's book is clearly anti-Bush, yet this fierce dose of media criticism adds up to much more than a mere ad hominem attack, and manages to be both funny and unsettling in equal measure.

Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
by Bill Bryson
Before he became known as one of the best travel writers around, Bill Bryson traced the history of our (mis-)use of the Mother Tongue that stretches from the Pilgrims' age to present-day. A highly anecdotal survey, Made in America often finds Bryson veering away from etymology to offer up eye-opening history lessons. In Bryson's steady hands, however, such tangents are welcome. Yet, it's all the "did you know …" facts that truly make Made in America worthwhile, as it explains the origins of Teddy Roosevelt's famous saying, "walk softly and carry a big stick," and why a certain Yankee Doodle Dandy decided to call his cap "macaroni." Often humorous, usually informative, and sometimes unflattering, Bryson's history is an enjoyable exploration of not only American English, but also of American identity.

Verbatim: From the Bawdy to the Sublime, the Best Writing on Language for Word Lovers, Grammar Mavens, and Armchair Linguists
edited by Erin McKean
"Sexual Intercourse in American College Dictionaries," "Thunderboxes and Chuggies," "Identity and Language in the S&M Scene"…. Hopefully, these article titles will give you some insight into the fun that is to be found within this anthology of writings culled from the magazine Verbatim: A Language Quarterly. Long cherished by word-lovers, Verbatim, "the only magazine of language and linguistics for the layperson," has been entertaining and educating for close to 30 years. From the history of the "F" word to the story behind British football chants to differences between Bible translations to an analysis of Buffy's "slayer slang," Verbatim covers scores of odd and intriguing subject matter, and, best of all, you don't need a Ph.D. to enjoy it.

The Language Instinct
by Steven Pinker
With this accessible volume, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind lucidly explains the many goings-on in the complicated -- and controversial -- world of linguistics and cognitive science. Examining how language works, how we learn it, and how it has changed, Pinker tells the compelling story of the human instinct to communicate. Along the way, he explains why adults have such a hard time learning foreign languages, why computers and animals will never be taught to use language, and even (painlessly) introduces us to the world of morphemes and phonemes. Written with verve and filled with humor, The Language Instinct is a mind-expanding delight.

Forgotten English
by Jeffrey Kacirk
While it's quite sad that so many of our wonderful words have become obsolete, thankfully, there are people like Jeffrey Kacirk out there who rescue some of our greatest bits of language from the dustbin of history. And what words they are! Nimgimmer, crapandina, galligaskins…and there are hundreds more in this volume. After reading Forgotten English, you'll not only be able to impress your chums with some arcane definitions, but you'll also have a better understanding of classic literature -- thanks to excerpts from the likes of Shakespeare, Dickens, William Blake, and Chaucer -- and a good deal of insight into the societies that produced such strange words. An asset to anyone in love with that enormous collection of words that we call the English language.