Personally, I see the man as a gaffe-master.
Whether it's referring to "jobs" as a three-letter word, imploring a paraplegic to stand up or getting caught live TV spewing the f-word, Biden has actually been a source of entertainment.
When George W. Bush was President, he was constantly ridiculed for his pronunciation of the word "nuclear." It was an easy one to catch since it's commonly pronounced "NOO-KLEER" as opposed to Bush's interpretation, which was "NOO-KYOO-LER." One could chalk it up to a southern accent but why do that when it's more expeditious to question the man's intellect.
But the same crowd who savaged Bush for mispronunciations have literally ignored how VP Biden misuses the word "literally."
Recently, when talking about infrastructure projects, the Vice President said they "literally are the veins and the arteries of commerce.” The dictionary definition of the word "literal" is being actually such, without exaggeration or inaccuracy. Who knew that something intangible like "commerce" could have blood running through it?
Sure, it may seem like I am nitpicking here. But this has become a habit for the Veep, which National Review writer Jim Geraghty noticed over the Summer.
Joe Biden, today: “Before we arrived in the West Wing, Mr. Boehner and the Republican Party ran the economy literally into the ground.”
Literally. Literally. You remember in late 2008, when all Americans had to work underground like mole people because that’s where the economy was.
Given his affinity for the word, the Vice President is literally ignorant of its meaning.
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To quote Mandy Patinkin in "The Princess Bride": "You keep using that word. I dona think it means what you think it means."
ReplyDeleteOK, help me understand how the minority party at that time managed to do that--literally or figuratively?
ReplyDeleteGaffe-master, or "person unacquainted with reality," it's shameful.
My favorite is when East coast libs add an "R" at the end of the word idea.
ReplyDeleteHoward Dean and John Kerry do it constantly.