I don’t know if you’ve noticed but President Obama and his administration have taken over the dictionary. Well, not exactly the whole dictionary, yet, but they have given new meaning to a number of words and phrases that haven’t had a change in their meaning from the advent of the English language until now. I haven’t been able compile the complete list of the New Obamaese Dictionary definitions but I have a few that you should be aware of.
Shovel Ready – Any project that rational taxpayers would vote a politician out of office for if they had voted to fund it during normal legislative processes.
Stimulus – A spending bill that contains “Shovel Ready” projects that is passed only with Democrat support
Uniquely Qualified – an individual who is either a tax cheat or has other ethical issues, such that they wouldn’t be hired for, and can only get a role through appointment to a Democrat Administration role. (see Czar)
Czar – an individual who is given absolute power over a portion of the economy for which they have absolutely no working knowledge. Czar’s are often “Uniquely Qualified.”
I don’t want to run – A phrase used immediately prior to a: blaming one’s predecessor, b: expressing surprise that the situation was much worse than you had thought and c: making a claim that the actions you have taken will be “temporary.” Typically, a Czar who is Uniquely Qualified is appointed to run the business that “I don’t want to run.”
As I have repeatedly said – A phrase used to point the listener to a specific one of the many positions the speaker has taken on a particular topic. It is not used to dismiss the positions not addressed during the use of this phrase, only to make you think the speaker has actually made a final decision, at least until they next use of the phrase: As I have repeatedly said…
I’m trying to keep a list of these. If you have others, send them along. Who knows, we may be able to give Webster a run for his money by the end of four years.