The well of vocab was no longer dry this week thanks to our cover story "America's Best Worst Politicians," a supplement from the Association of Alternative Newspapers. You’ve got to read it to believe it, folks. And yes, I copy edited the entire, 15-page piece (Oxford commas and all) and I inserted every single mean mug into the online version. Thanks to AAN reporters from across the country, you not only get to read about the horn dogs, user boozers and sleazeball politicians, but you also get to see some creative vocabulary up close. In addition to the locally grown content, of course.
Strangely enough, all of the regular content eye-catching words start with the letter “P.”
paucity: smallness of quantity, n.
“Few reporters note that rockets fired from Gaza are aimed at Israeli civilians, although they note the comparative paucity of Israeli victims,” in Ben L. Kaufman’s Curmudgeon Notes. Yet again, another week of worthy comments on the shortcomings of journalistic coverage. His comments on the reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are important albeit hard to understand.
portend: to foreshadow, v. (used with an object)
“What does this all portend for the live presence of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah?” in Brian Baker’s Sound Advice for the CYHSY show. Actually, that’s a great question, considering the band used to have four members and at least three of them have left the group since 2011. I’m curious how this resolves itself on Fountain Square this Friday night.
prescient: to have knowledge of something before it exists, adj.
“An example of how prescient the Alvins believe Broonzy to have been …” in Steven Rosen’s Bond of Brothers, describing the relationship two really old guys have with a record done by an even older guy that they listened to in their childhood.
America’s Best Worst Politicians Vocabulary
apprised: to inform or tell someone, v.
“Dayton explained he had been credibly, confidently apprised that the Capitol itself would be shortly laid waste by terrorists,” in Neal Karlen’s description of Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. Who apprised him of that?
Also, who knew that someone who gave his own tenure in the Senate an “F” could be elected governor on a pity vote? I didn’t know it was so easy but then again, I don’t have $4 million to finance my own campaign.
moribund: in a dying state, near death, adj.
“A defrocked demagogue, she still pretends her Tea Party is a reactionary revolution, not a moribund refuge for the Republicans’ traditional bloc of bat-shit crazy far-right-wingers,” in Karlen’s bit on Minnesota U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann.
I hope Karlen’s use of moribund in relation to the Tea Party is accurate, but considering Bachmann’s talk of another presidential run in 2016, it may be wishful thinking. Karlen (if you ever read this), brace yourself because I’m sure you’ll have to cover that.
Shout-out to Karlen, by the way, for using one of my personal favorite phrases, “bat-shit crazy.” I keep trying to convince my mother it’s a thing because obviously, it’s a thing.
opprobrium: harsh criticism or censure, n.
“… Jan Brewer affixed her signature to the infamous, immigrant-bashing Senate Bill 1070 and rode a wave of xenophobia to electoral triumph… and liberal opprobrium,” in Stephen Lemons description of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. It wasn’t just “liberal opprobrium,” considering the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a lot of the law as unconstitutional. Take that, Jan Brewer.
When I was learning how to insert the photos, our design editor specifically said, “Use the photo where she’s laughing like the devil.”
troglodyte: a prehistoric cave-dweller, a person of degraded character or a person unacquainted with affairs of the world, n.
“DeMint backed Todd ‘Legitimate Rape’ Akin, Richard ‘God Wants Rape Babies’ Mourdock and a host of other troglodyte true-believers,” in Chris Haire’s bit on South Carolina former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint. Troglodyte is the word of the week, hands down. Pick whatever definition you want, they all apply. Props to Haire for his ability to find the perfect word for such people. DeMint was one of my personal favorites on the list, for his views that gays and unwed heterosexual women having sex shouldn’t be allowed to teach in public schools. I’d love to hear his plans for unwed heterosexual men and how he would like to enforce these ideas.
Unfortunately, state schools in Indiana (or at least Ball State) start school really early (like August 18) so I’m heading back to Muncie and you lovely people only have one more week until you probably won’t notice the fabulous words in CityBeat anymore. Please return next week for my going away Fiesta Edition. I just made that up.
Rachel Podnar writes "From the Copy Desk" weekly from her desk as CityBeat's intern copy editor. Her job is to find and correct everybody else's mistakes, occasionally referencing a dictionary to check one of our more
