Feminists: get used to ‘biden’ your tongues
8/27/08 | 8 comments

Feminists: get used to ‘biden’ your tongues


By Pat LaMarche

Some day I am going to publish my own dictionary. It’s going to have words that real people use and the real meaning of words that folks often misuse.

One of the smartest people I know uses the word “thinger” all the time. She’s a bright, articulate, energetic woman and she says “thinger” whenever there’s something that she doesn’t know the name of but that she wants other people to notice. And it works; as soon as she says it, everyone pays closer attention so that they can learn exactly what a “thinger” is.

Language is her friend and she’s not afraid to play with it. Not surprisingly she made her career in radio.

My Aunt Mary says “spetorious” all the time. That’s sort of a cross between spectacular and notorious. You know when something is really well known and yet wonderfully so. Like the opposite of Jack the Ripper who was notorious but ghastly. Maybe that should be a word too: ghastorious.

The other category for my dictionary will be malapropisms: misused words and their correct definitions. Possibly the most common of these is inflammable; meaning combustible or excitable. Many folks think it means the opposite of flammable and therefore flame retardant. But actually the word has Latin roots and basically means “is flammable” and of course flammable just means flammable.

It’s confusing but that’s why my new dictionary will be so spetorious.

The definition of the word that most needs reiterating is feminist. See, because really angry, unpleasant people feel threatened when bright, energetic, intelligent women are considered their equals, feminist has lost its meaning. Some of these angry folks have lumped women who want equal pay for equal work in with the racist perpetrators of a European holocaust.

There are very few words more offensive than the term “feminazi,” yet the appropriate outcry is silenced because people have forgotten the true definition of the word “feminist” and are not appropriately outraged by the word “Nazi.”

So “feminazi” will be in the new dictionary too. The definition will be, “a word spoken by misogynists who put down gutsy women rather than become better people themselves.”

Noah Webster, move over!

In the Pat LaMarche dictionary, feminist will be defined as someone who loves and respects women. You can be a feminist if you are a man or a woman, a child or an octogenarian, a white vice presidential candidate or a black Supreme Court justice.

Of course you can be anti-feminist if you are any of those things too; especially a vice presidential candidate or a Supreme Court justice.

In fact, we have a vice presidential candidate who’s got some defining of his own to do. Allegedly Sen. Joe Biden got the nod from Barack Obama because he’s good on foreign affairs. Even the Washington Post compared Obama’s choice of Biden to Bush’s pick of Cheney because of their global perspective.

That’s damning with faint praise.

But for all of Biden’s foreign affairs credentials, he’s most memorable for being the guy who, as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, gave the pass to Clarence Thomas to sit on the Supreme Court.

Thomas had been accused by his colleague Anita Hill of speaking inappropriately and sexually harassing her. Imagine if he had instead been sexually inappropriate in his speech to a man. If a man had come forward and said that Thomas’ discussion of porn disrupted the workplace, that would have caused a much bigger stir. The likely dismissal of his Supreme Court appointment probably would have resulted from the public’s homophobia rather than Thomas’ lack of professionalism. See, even though Thomas would rule on cases that directly affect women and their rights, Hill’s concerns had no real impact. Certainly the Senate Judiciary Committee didn’t care if his speech marginalized women.

It’s ironic that the first presidential election cycle with a woman spetoriously close to being a major party nominee resulted in a vice presidential candidate that easily dismisses the respectful treatment of women.

And now I have another word for my dictionary: biden. I’ll use it in a sentence. Feminists should get used to “biden” their tongues.

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Comments
8 comments on this item
On 8/27/08 at 7:46 AM, vichet wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If I could add a definition in the Websters dictionary under hypocrite I would add: Pat Lamarche.

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On 8/27/08 at 9:02 AM, freerange wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

But Pat, didn't Senator Biden voted against Justice Thomas during the confirmation hearings? And didn't Senator Biden author some of the ground breaking legislation protecting women against domestic violence? While Senator Clinton would have been my VP choice, her support for the Obama-Biden ticket has been spectorially clear. Let's move on and make sure that Senator Clinton's wish of "No way, no how, no McCain" is reality in November.

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On 8/27/08 at 11:32 AM, ShawnDaily wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I have to agree with Patty on this one. The Democrat party basically torpedoed Hillary Clinton. The Democrats always gush about their understanding and championing of causes for women etc. What they did to Hillary was a total disgrace and will loose another election for the Democrats. While it could be argued that Hillary's campaign was inept, sexism was very rampant from the democrat challengers. It is sad to see the Democrat Party taken over and diminished by the MoveOn.org leftists.

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On 8/27/08 at 3:29 PM, DaveCoccia wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Thanks so much for fixing the formating. I thought I was reading a scroll from 200B.C.!

Some pretty interesting reponses here ... for 'freerange' ... Senator Clinton's support should be dismissed as required but not willing ... Biden will most likely make some comment he'll regret and ... if No way, no how, no McCain actually happens, we should start packing our bags so when Obama gives away the U.S. we'll be able to beat the traffic.

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On 8/28/08 at 8:19 AM, Adelaide wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Vichet - I agree, though I would like to think of a stronger word then hypocrite. Shawn- If anyone torpedoed Hillary's campaign it was her staff and Hillary's inability to keep them under control, if she had given speeches of the caliber as the one Tuesday night at the Democratic Convention she would have had a better shot at the nomination. The majority of what I heard previously sounded like a lot of entitlement. DaveCoccia- get a grip, the give away has already been accomplished under the current administration. China practically owns us lock, stock and barrel. We are sending millions of oil dollars every day to countries who loathe us and support terrorism! I would like to see Americans grow a brain, 80% believe the country is on the WRONG track, yet people actually entertain the idea of electing McSame???? I have the utmost respect for his service to this country, but he is no longer a maverick, he is now a disciple of the Bush/Cheney administration. To try and quote Senator Clinton the other night, "This country cannot afford 4 more years of the last 8 years!"

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On 8/28/08 at 9:52 AM, VirginiaHarris wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I'm thrilled that Senator Clinton honored the suffragettes, including Harriet Tubman, who was as ardently involved in the suffrage struggle as she was in the Underground Railroad.

There is much that is useful for today's activists in the suceesful strategies of the suffragettes.

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On 8/29/08 at 8:24 PM, Johninphilippines wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Pat, one word that brings guffaws to the Filipino's is the word, "thingy". Almost nearly used alike in the word "thinger" of your friend. But, "thingy", means much the same "thing" here, but can also include "private parts" in the meaning of "thingy" - boy or girl. Pat...I wish you would do something someday on all those names people are calling themselves for the internet postings. They are funny, and I'am trying to determine who they are, their affiliations, interests, and their personalities from their "handles". Remember all those CB radio call-names...."Little Beaver", "Smil'in Jack", "Houn-Dog", and more...of those operating CB's (I used "Smil'in Jack", KFP-0833, license number). He was a cartoon character who was a pilot and always had this love affair with someone. This was NOT indicative of my lifestyle, of course. But how come so many people got off-course when they began to mention Hillary Clinton? I hope that nothing sparks me to write about the Clinton's, because I have a long dissertaion to post about them, and in a negative way. I will not be kind. But, sorry for being 3 days late on the comments on this one. It's funny.

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On 9/5/08 at 9:16 PM, Anthony wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Pat, your most recent comments on Sarah Palin's nomination suggest that you're not a true feminist, given your own definition of what a feminist is. Given Sarah's success as an achieving woman in what is often a man's world, you have decided to deride her for her traditional, conservative views, in spite of her great accomplishments. Perhaps we should add another word to our dictionary: lamarche - defined as the inability to move beyond one's own clouded and confused political agenda to see reality.

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