Outgoing Republican Sen. George Allen is famous! "Macaca" named most politically incorrect word

[NNN0LHI]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-12-18T140116Z_01_N15169246_RTRUKOC_0_US-WORDS.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-oddlyEnoughNews-3

The word "macaca," used by outgoing Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia to describe a Democratic activist of Indian descent who was trailing his campaign, was named the most politically incorrect word of the year on Friday by Global Language Monitor, a nonprofit group that studies word usage.

"The word might have changed the political balance of the U.S. Senate, since Allen's utterance (an offensive slang term for Indians from the Sub-continent) surely impacted his election bid," said the group's head, Paul JJ Payack.

Allen narrowly lost to Democrat James Webb in November, helping make it possible for the Democrats to capture control of the Senate.

[The Count]

1. "politically incorrect?" How so very glib! The word is RACIST.

[MADem]

But why use one plain word when two can be trotted out?

In this instance, they don't want to come right out and call Felix Macacawitz Allen a racist. So they move the goalposts so they don't HAVE to. It's all about sparing HIS feelings, avoiding an insult to HIM, I imagine.

On the other side of the spectrum, you have words like handicapped, or "crippled and spastic" or "retarded"--once upon a time, they were simply descriptive, but people somehow made them pejorative, so they invented big long descriptions that were intended to convey the same info, but sounded more upbeat. George Carlin did an interesting riff on this a few years back.

[MADem]

4. But why use one plain word when two can be trotted out?

In this instance, they don't want to come right out and call Felix Macacawitz Allen a racist. So they move the goalposts so they don't HAVE to. It's all about sparing HIS feelings, avoiding an insult to HIM, I imagine.

On the other side of the spectrum, you have words like handicapped, or "crippled and spastic" or "retarded"--once upon a time, they were simply descriptive, but people somehow made them pejorative, so they invented big long descriptions that were intended to convey the same info, but sounded more upbeat. George Carlin did an interesting riff on this a few years back.

[Gman]

2. Macaca was the turning point

the longer it simmered, the more things turned for Webb. It only got worse for Allen afterwards.

[demnan]

3. Well at least we all agree

what the Word of the Year should be.

[etherealtruth]

5. I lived in VA when that fool was governor ...

His "fame" is well deserved.