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Prez Whiz

While doing some research this morning for a different essay, I read this assessment by Hendrik Hertzberg of a phrase in Bush's 2004 State of the Union Address:

In last year’s State of the Union, Bush’s buzz phrase was “weapons of mass destruction,” the threat of which justified the impending conquest of Iraq. This year’s speech subsumed that phrase into the longer, mealier “weapons of mass destruction-related program activities,” a usefully adaptable locution.

For some reason, perhaps to do with the length of the phrase, or its poetic rhythm, or maybe its totally artifical color, it reminded me of my favorite, contrived name for something sold as edible:

American Pasteurized Process Cheese-Food Product

Neither one would seem to suggest ease of digestibility.

Posted on September 25, 2005 at 11.00 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Such Language!

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