Malaprop or ?
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"As I deliberate and I listen to the gentleman from Tennessee, I have to make the point that when you challenge the mendacity of the leader or another member, there is an opportunity to rise to a point of order, there is an opportunity to make a motion to take the gentleman's words down, however many of the members are off on other endeavors and I would make the point that- that the leader and the speaker have established their integrity and their mendacity for years in this Congress and I don't believe it can be effectively challenged and those who do so actually cast aspersions on themselves for making wild accu- accusations."
Faldone said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:08 pm
I'm having trouble trying to figure out what he thought he was saying. Or does he just not know what mendacity means?
richard howland-bolton said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:20 pm
I am a politician Sir! I know my stock-in-trade.
How DARE you accuse me of not lying!!
Sili said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:28 pm
Freudian slip?
(If such a thing exists.)
Amy Reynaldo said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:34 pm
richard wins.
Morten Jonsson said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:35 pm
He meant "veracity." My guess is that "mendacity" and "veracity" are connected in his mind (antonyms will do that), and he just pulled out the wrong one. I've done it myself, though not, of course, on the House floor.
Colin Reid said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:42 pm
In the UK House of Commons there'd be instant mocking boos and cries of 'Shame!' from the opposing bench if someone accidentally said a naughty word like that.
Does anyone use the word 'probity' these days?
fev said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:44 pm
Not to indulge in naked partisanship on this fine scholarly blog or anything, but it _is_ worth noting that Steve King's primary function is making sure that Peter King isn't the stupidest Republican named King in the World's Second-Most August Deliberative Body.
It's a tough job. but …
Kylopod said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:51 pm
I'm reminded a little of the classic from Bush Senior–"I hope I stand for anti-bigotry, anti-Semitism and anti-racism."
Don Sample said,
January 7, 2011 @ 3:57 pm
What did the gentlman from Tennessee say, that King was objecting to? I suspect it was "mendacity." If he used the word "mendacity," then I don't think that King can claim he meant to say "veracity" without being mendacious.
Nijma said,
January 7, 2011 @ 4:00 pm
Not for nothing are they called "congress critters", although that may be an insult to animals.
John said,
January 7, 2011 @ 4:01 pm
Good candidate for "Word of the Year".
D.O. said,
January 7, 2011 @ 4:21 pm
@Don Sample: I think it is this speech. The link might be good for a few hours or days until Rep. Cohen makes another speech and bumps this one down the stack. Neither mendacity, nor veracity are present. He uses good old lie. Time to restart debate on Germanic vs. Latinate words?
D.O. said,
January 7, 2011 @ 4:23 pm
Sorry, sloppy html. Here's the link.
[(myl) The Youtube link should be stable, even if Rep. Cohen's page changes; and this embedded version should also endure:
]
GeorgeW said,
January 7, 2011 @ 4:52 pm
@Morten Jonsson: Yes, 'veracity' is likely to have been his target.
@Colin Reid: In the U.S. house, there is often no one sitting it the benches shout disapproval. This is all for the cameras and the congressional record. Yesterday, they read the Constitution on the House floor to almost no one except the cameras.
Clayton Burns said,
January 7, 2011 @ 5:09 pm
[Morten Jonsson said, January 7, 2011 @ 3:35 pm He meant "veracity." My guess is that "mendacity" and "veracity" are connected in his mind (antonyms will do that), and he just pulled out the wrong one. I've done it myself, though not, of course, on the House floor.]
Morten J. could be right, but I am not convinced. There had to be a reason why "mendacity" and "leader" would be so linked in King's fevered mind:
[Harper's Magazine mounts a bitter attack on Obama:
'The Mendacity … 30 Jan 2010 … Entitled "The Mendacity of Hope," it is a devastating indictment of … utter contradiction of a messianic figurehead leader who continues the Empire's … As president, with few exceptions, Obama either has embraced the … rabnett.posterous.com/harpers-magazine-mounts-a-bitter-attack-on-ob-0 – Cached]
If "mendacity" was to be the Republican theme tag for Obama this political season, then blowback will have to be endured by some. Too bad. Do not open fire on your own foot.
Spell Me Jeff said,
January 7, 2011 @ 5:40 pm
Another possibility might be over preparation, or preparation gone awry. I imagine a staff member writing something about "accusations of mendacity," and then subsequent (and hurried) tinkering turning this into "challenge the mendacity." The word "accusations" does after all make an appearance.
So, maybe more of a mix-up of the original parts than a substitution of sound-alike parts?
I hope he hurries up and refudiates the mess.
John Cowan said,
January 7, 2011 @ 6:28 pm
"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." —Mark Twain
I well remember Senator Chris Dodd's 1976 speech nominating Carter for president, in which he praised him for his "moral turpitude".
Ray Dillinger said,
January 7, 2011 @ 7:45 pm
Damn. It must be really embarrassing to be a politician and accidentally tell the truth rather than saying what you intended to say.
David Green said,
January 7, 2011 @ 9:15 pm
"splendide mendax" — Horace
Tom Saylor said,
January 8, 2011 @ 6:36 am
I get the impression that the congressman has been studying some sort of “Word Power” manual in order to elevate his diction and is straining to use words and expressions whose meanings he has only half learned. He also misuses the fancy expression “cast aspersions on” as if it simply meant “disgrace.”
adriano said,
January 8, 2011 @ 8:32 am
As a native speaker of a Romance language, I'd never make such a mistake, not in one thousand years, but if you're a native speaker of English you'd better stick to Germanic words. Just to lessen the likelyhood of making blunders.
Spell Me Jeff said,
January 8, 2011 @ 9:54 am
@adriano: A speaker of English who can look at a word and know whether it's of Germanic or Romantic origin is probably savvy enough not to make such a mistake. By and large, English speakers don't give a damn about word origins.
GeorgeW said,
January 8, 2011 @ 10:55 am
@adriano: I would appreciate an elaboration why a speaker of a Romance language would never "in a thousand years" misspeak or use the wrong word.
I understand that English has an extremely large lexicon (the largest of any language?) and includes many loans. However, I would expect that most other languages (all?) would have some esoteric and antiquated words and the more esoteric the greater the possibility of misuse.
Ellen K. said,
January 8, 2011 @ 12:27 pm
I believe Adriano means that, as a speaker of a Romance language, he wouldn't make such a mistake speaking English. Which seems to me to be because the roots of those words are very similar for the words for "lie" and "true". (The Spanish words, anyway.)
GeorgeW said,
January 8, 2011 @ 12:39 pm
@Ellen: Thanks, that makes sense. I was reading it too broadly.
Trimegistus said,
January 8, 2011 @ 2:19 pm
It's simply amazing how slips of the tongue by Republicans are newsworthy, but gaffes by Democrats are shrugged off.
Kylopod said,
January 8, 2011 @ 9:10 pm
Good advice. From now on, I will no longer speak about America's enemies and instead talk about our foes.
adriano said,
January 9, 2011 @ 4:57 am
@spell me jeff
@georgew
I was referring to the words mentioned in the post that originated this thread, that is, "veracity" and "mendacity": "veracity" = "veracità"; "vero" = "true"; "mendacity" = "mendacia", "falsità".
In my mind, at least, there's no way I could mistake one for another.
A native English speaker, when in doubt, should check it up, shouldn't he/she?
adriano said,
January 9, 2011 @ 5:24 am
Re-reading my previous post, I gather I haven't been as clear as I wanted to.
What I meant is that, since in my mind the meanings of those two words are absolutely distinct and separated, there's no way I could mistake one for the other, neither in my native language nor the in English language.
GeorgeW said,
January 9, 2011 @ 3:53 pm
@adriano:Thanks for the clarification. I should have been more perceptive and realized that you were referring to just those two latinate words.
Nelida said,
January 9, 2011 @ 7:41 pm
As a native speaker of Spanish, let me make a couple of comments:
@George W: It happens all the time, with not just those two words of Romanic origin, but also with many others. The fact is, that the Latin-root words are, more or less modified, incorporated into our everyday language/speech, and so, when we see those words adapted or incorporated (lexicalized) into English, we tend to make less mistakes or incur in fewer malapropisms than a native English speaker would.
@adriano: A small correction: I believe you meant "likelihood" (i/o likelyhood). Otherwise, I coincide with your reasoning.
adriano said,
January 10, 2011 @ 8:06 am
@ nelida
Oops…
Thanks.
PubliusFL said,
January 10, 2011 @ 8:30 am
Right, a native speaker of Spanish would be very unlikely to make that mistake. A native speaker of Spanish would be more likely to tell an expectant mother (to reverse the old joke about English speakers learning Spanish): "Congratulations on your embarassment!" ;-)
Ginger Yellow said,
January 10, 2011 @ 9:36 am
"From now on, I will no longer speak about America's enemies and instead talk about our foes."
Whereas I shall call my enemies "fiends".
chris said,
January 10, 2011 @ 9:52 am
@Ginger Yellow: With fiends like those, who needs enemies?
Nelida said,
January 10, 2011 @ 12:54 pm
@PubliusFL: LOL. But I have a better one still, which you may enjoy if you know Spanish. An executive receives a visitor from abroad, let's say from the U.S., and wishes to impress the visitor with his knowledge of English. And so, he invites the visitor into his office and says "Between no more and drink a seat". (WHAT??!!!) (Back translation into Spanish: "Entre nomás y tome asiento" – which should correctly have been, in a cordial/colloquial register, something like: "Come in, come in, please take a seat!"
Allan L. said,
January 10, 2011 @ 3:29 pm
"Does anyone use the word 'probity' these days?"
Not in mixed company.
As for the other words, I suggest the distinguished representative stick to "goodity" and "baddity" so as to avoid confusion.