Americans are by now very familiar with the unique speaking style and vernacular of George W. Bush. His verbal gaffes, malapropisms and just plain mangling of the English language are so frequent and monumental that they collectively have earned the widely recognized names of “Bushisms” and “Bushspeak.” Several books have been dedicated to this speech phenomenon. Numerous web sites have sprung up for the sole purpose of cataloguing, analyzing, explaining and, yes, translating Bushspeak to English.
BBC News recently published a selection of Bushisms that I highlighted in “The Most Misunderestimated President.”
A whole cottage industry of Bushisms games, videos, CD‘s, dictionaries (“Bushionaries”), and encyclopedias (“Bushopedias”) has also sprung up.
One such “Bushopedia” is Bill Potts’ “Comprehensive Alphabetical Guide to George W. Bush, the Bush Administration, Other Aspects of the Far Right, and Related Topics,” described by the author as “an informative and entertaining alphabetical guide to the Bushes and their fellow travelers, covering people, issues, definitions, policies, legislation and organizations.”
In addition to and distinct from Bushisms, there are other Bush “derivatives” used to identify Bush or Bush administration policies, groups, individuals or themes. Examples that come to mind are “Bushonomics,” “Bushocrats,” “Bushpots,” and “Bushwhacked.”
In contrast to Conservative efforts to keep the Clinton “memories” alive well into the eight years of the Bush administration (and probably beyond), I do not believe that Democrats have such long memories. Thus, let me hurry up and succumb once more to Bush Derangement Syndrome before we let out a collective sigh of good riddance on January 20 and before the connotation of the adage “out of sight out of mind” hopefully kicks in.
Taking great liberty with the English language, as does our president, and taking note that so many others are documenting their first impressions of what Bush’s legacy will be, I have taken a shot at such a Bush “Legacy” description in the form of a brief “Bushctionary”:
Bushmania n. mental affliction mainly affecting Conservatives. Antonym: Bushphobia or Bush Derangement Syndrome (regrettably one of my afflictions)
Bushbashing n. healthy exchange of ideas mainly taking place among Democrats.
Bushometrics n. measurement of success in managing the war Iraq and other national crises, as developed and applied by Bush et al. Synonyms: “We are making progress,” “Mission Accomplished” and “Heckuva job.”
Bushonoscopy n. intrusive procedure delving into the most private aspects of Americans’ lives, as in domestic warrantless wiretapping, etc.
Bushsmarts n. rhet. 1. a figure of speech 2. excellent example of oxymoron
Bushography n. a relatively new branch of geography that classifies Africa as a nation and Egypt and Jordan as Gulf Coast countries.
Bushmanure n. fertilizer generously applied around the Rose Garden during rare presidential press conferences.
Bushgate n. work still in progress. See also “Worse than Watergate.”
Bushed adj. colloq. 1. Austral. & NZ: bewildered 2. US: similar, only worse
Bushwhacker n. a person who clears bush in Crawford, TX., in 100+-degree weather. See also, Bushsmarts
Bushgynecology n. avant-garde version of American gynecology that encourages doctors to practice their love with women
Bushsolescence n. a period in American politics hopefully expected to set in on January 20.
Bushantics n. absurd behavior such as tap dancing on the White House steps while waiting for John McCain, or such as looking for WMD in the Oval Office
Bushtheatrics n. staged histrionics, such as landing on an aircraft carrier in macho-fitting flight suit and declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
Bushcraft n. the use of sorcery and other iniquitous techniques to make our national surplus and other valuable assets, agencies, programs and civil liberties disappear.
Bushangelical adj. & n. adj. According to the teachings of faith-based politics. Antonym: Separation of Church and State.
Bushontology n. the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being, as in being always right and thus never having to admit you are wrong.
Bushmandate n. falsely claimed overwhelming support for Bush’s policies as derived from the thinnest electoral and popular vote margins in recent memory.
Bushwalling v. a new and improved version of Stonewalling
Bushtronomical adj. extremely large; almost too large to contemplate, as in our budget deficit, our expenditures in Iraq, our economic meltdown.
Bushchiavellian adj. new and improved version of 16th century cunning, scheming, unscrupulous abuse of power. (See, torture, rendition, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, firing of U.S. attorneys, vindictive outing of a C.I.A. operative, abuse of the classification process, smearing and demonizing political opponents)
Bushenanigans n. trickery, dubious maneuvers, such as in yellow cake, mushroom cloud, WMD, imminent threat, missing e-mails and records, ignoring Congressional subpoenas, signing statements, “We do not torture.”
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.