Not exactly Shakespeare

Not exactly Shakespeare

(Supposed) Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has been inventing words, apparently. But that’s OK, she says, the bard used to do it. Kipp may take up the habit.

July 20, 2010 4:10 by kippreport

Sarah Palin has been inventing words, apparently. The one time US Vice-Presidential candidate – and if rumors are true, aspiring Presidential candidate – sent some Tweets this week over a proposed mosque near the twin towers wreckage in New York. In one of them, she asked peaceful Muslims to “pls refudiate” the mosque.

Clearly, she found herself trapped somewhere between “refute” and “repudiate.” She brushed aside the slip a few minutes later, pointing out that “English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too.”

Yet more evidence, if any were needed that instant communication with the masses is not always a good thing.

But given some of Kipp’s own dodgy grammar, we figure we’re in no position to judge. In fact, we’re all in favor of sprucing up the English language with a bit of creativity. A little bit of creatrilliance never did anyone any harm.

And in business life, haven’t managers been taking liberties with language for years? Who hasn’t stared blankly at their boss after being asked if they’re in “aggreeance” over their new “workstream,” or similar? Management jargon has become a language all of its own. Don’t believe us? You obviously need to “eat a reality sandwich” before you get “lateraled.”

Come to think of it, maybe the development of the English language is best left to the experts, (like its greatest ever master, William Shakespeare) rather than a power hungry nobody from deepest darkest Alaska, or a manager trying to employ “green field thinking.”

Or an overworked little website from the Middle East, for that matter – Kipp will have to be a bit more carefulerer in the future.