December 2, 2008 8:29:29 PM CST
(Newser) – Whether Barack Obama was taking a rouge-colored swipe at Sarah Palin is debatable, but a staffer’s claim that "lipstick on a pig" is a phrase “older than my grandfather’s grandfather” should raise eyebrows, Ben Zimmer explains on Slate. The phrase has probably only been around since the 1980s (about a century less than lipstick itself), but the general sentiment is quite a bit older.
There are many older variations, with the classic “You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear” dating to the 16th century. "A hog in armour is still but a hog" was recorded in 1732; "A hog in a silk waistcoat is still a hog," in 1887. The version Obama used didn’t appear until 1985. The saying was popularized by former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, and was even used recently by John McCain when he attacked Hillary Clinton’s health care plan. But, Zimmer says, “it's not quite the vintage of anyone's grandfather's grandfather.”
Source Slate
Nov 17, 08 4:45 PM CST Sarah Palin made such a splash in American politics this year that she deserves consideration for Time magazine Person of the Year, Kathryn Jean Lopez writes for the National Review. “They’ve probably long picked The One,” Lopez writes, referring to Barack Obama. But “like Obama, all you had to do was look at her to see that she offered something different on a national ticket.” More »
Nov 6, 08 1:22 PM CST With the election over, what's more fun than calling out all those whose predictions were off—way off. Der Spiegel lists some highlights:
Nov 4, 08 4:05 PM CST It's an inevitability of any election season: Some phrases will get bandied around so much that the hapless American, simply trying to do his civic duty by paying attention, will be crushed under the sheer weight of political verbiage. The Red Eye lists the worst offenders:
Nov 3, 08 5:18 PM CST Viral election videos offer campy calls for change, seamless special effects, and more than a few celebrity cameos. Laughs aside, “over the past decade they’ve also impacted politics—sometimes changing the course of elections and frequently providing a few laughs in an otherwise wonky world,” Jeffrey Ressner writes in picking Politico's top 10 of '08.
Nov 3, 08 7:07 AM CST Sarah Palin apparently believes the San Francisco Chronicle suppressed a January interview with Barack Obama, in which he threatens to bankrupt the coal industry. “You gotta listen to the tape,” Palin told an Ohio crowd yesterday. “Why is this audio tape just now surfacing? This interview was given many months ago.” To the crowd, the answer was obvious—“Liberal media!” someone shouted—but the Chronicle says it posted the interview in full online in January. More »
In 1985, the Washington Post quoted a San Francisco radio host on plans for renovating Candlestick Park (instead of building a new downtown stadium for the Giants): "That would be like putting lipstick on a pig." - Ben Zimmer, on Slate
Barack Obama • Election 2008 • Sarah Palin • speech • controversy • lipstick • lipstick on a pig
