Bushism

A Bushism is a word, phrase, pronunciation, or other linguistic error that occurs frequently enough in the public speaking of President of the United States George W. Bush to have become useful in caricatures of him. These have crept into popular folklore and have formed the basis of websites and even published books.

Background

While any public figure speaking in so many venues over time is prone to a few unflattering errors, George Bush's regular use of nonstandard grammatical constructions has some common characteristics that have given him a hallmark style:

Adding agentive endings to words not usually accustomed to such treatment, such as "suiciders", "game changer" and "decider" (as in "I'm the decider")
Constructing neologisms such as "tacular" (a portmanteau of "tactical" and "nuclear").
Occasional use of spoonerisms such as "mexed missages" (mixed messages) and "terriers and bariffs" (barriers and tariffs).
Use of words that sound similar to intended words but are obviously wrong in the context (i.e., malapropism). "People outside the information" instead of "outside the administration."
Splicing words together in strange Portmanteaus, such as "misunderestimated."
Use of two modal verbs, such as "musta could've."
Redundant or odd sentence construction, such as "We had a chance to visit with Teresa Nelson who's a parent, and a mom or a dad."
Slang and double negatives, as in "We've not got no better friend and ally than South Korea."
Use of obvious or irrelevant words or statements, such as "Wow, Brazil is big."

Quotations from the President's speeches that imply poor fluency and lack of understanding of the English language are often called Bushisms. Many imply that the President has significant misconceptions about geography, history, political processes, and the world in general. There is no easy way to tell how many of them reflect the President's actual knowledge and opinions and how many are merely results of verbal mishaps, or had been uttered deliberately. Some supposed Bushisms may stem from a misunderstanding of the President's dialect, or Bush simplifying his language to speak with a foreign leader.

List of Bushisms

See Wikiquote:List of Bushisms and Wikiquote:George W. Bush for more.

“I hear the voices, and I read the front page, and I know the speculation, But I’m the decider And I decide what is best. And what’s best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as secretary of defense.’’ 18 April 2006
"Thank you for having me here in this beautiful capital to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution." -Mixing up 1956 Hungarian Revolution (which is celebrated 23 October) with the revolutions of 1848, 15 March 2006
"We wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security of the United States of America." —Cabinet meeting, 23 February 2006
"You took an oath to defend our flag and our freedom, and you kept that oath, underseas and under fire." —Speech to Veterans of Foreign Wars, 10 January 2006
"I mean, there was a serious international effort to say to Saddam Hussein, you're a threat. And the 9/11 attacks extenuated that threat, as far as I—concerned." —Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 12 December 2005
"I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at." —On the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., October 4 2005
"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job." —Gulfport, Mississippi, 20 September 2005.
"I'm also mindful that man should never try to put words in God's mouth. I mean, we should never ascribe natural disasters or anything else, to God. We are in no way, shape, or form should a human being play God." —Appearing on ABC's 20/20, Washington D.C., January 14 2005
"I believe we are called to do the hard work to make our communities and quality of life a better place." —Collinsville, Illinois, January 5 2005
"I refuse to be sucked into your hypnotheoretical arguments." —Indianapolis, Indiana, October 15 2004
"I hear there's rumors on the uh (pause) Internets that we're going to have a draft." - Presidential Debate, St. Louis, Missouri, 8 October 2004
"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country." —Campaign speech at Poplar Bluff, Missouri, 6 September 2004
"I want to thank my friend, Sen. Bill Frist, for joining us today. … He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. (Laughter.) Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me. (More laughter.)" —Nashville, Tennessee, May 27 2004
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., 5 August 2004
"I want to remind you all that in order to fight and win the war, it requires an expenditure of money that is commiserate with keeping a promise to our troops to make sure that they're well-paid, well-trained, well-equipped." —Washington, D.C., 15 December 2003 (commensurate)
"See, without the tax relief package, there would have been a deficit, but there wouldn't have been the commiserate — not 'commiserate' — the kick to our economy that occurred as a result of the tax relief." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., 15 December 2003 (commensurate)
"[T]he Iraqis need to be very much involved. They were the people that was brutalized by this man." —Washington, D.C., 15 December 2003
"[T]he best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forth to describe the location of the hole, is to give clues and data." —Washington, D.C., 15 December 2003
"Justice was being delivered to a man who defied that gift from the Almighty to the people of Iraq." —Washington, D.C., 15 December 2003
"This very week in 1989, there were protests in East Berlin and in Leipzig. By the end of that year, every communist dictatorship in Central America had collapsed." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., 6 November 2003
"America stands for liberty, for the pursuit of happiness, and for the unalienalienable right of life." —Washington, D.C., 3 November 2003
"[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say." —Washington, D.C., 28 October 2003
"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the — the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." —Washington, D.C., 27 October 2003
"[W]hether they be Christian, Jew, or Muslim, or Hindu, people have heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be called themselves." —Washington, D.C., October 8 2003
"This is a country which recently was attacked by a suicider that killed innocent children and women, people that were celebrating in a restaurant." —Referring to Syria in Cabinet meeting, October 7 2003 [1]
"Washington is a town where there's all kinds of allegations. You've heard much of the allegations. And if people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that would be people inside the information who are the so-called anonymous sources, or people outside the information — outside the administration." —Chicago, Illinois, 30 September 2003
"[W]e've had leaks out of the administrative branch, had leaks out of the legislative branch, and out of the executive branch and the legislative branch, and I've spoken out consistently against them, and I want to know who the leakers are." —Chicago, 30 September 2003
"I'm so pleased to be able to say hello to Bill Scranton. He's one of the great Pennsylvania political families." —Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, 15 September 2003 (In this context, "he's" may be a contraction of "he has".)
"I think war is a dangerous place." —Washington, D.C., May 7 2003
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." —Washington, D.C., June 18 2002
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." - Nashville, Tennessee, Sept 17 2002 [2]
"I've coined new words, like, misunderestimating and Hispanically." —Radio-Television Correspondents Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 29 2001

"A lot of times in the rhetoric, people forget the facts. And the facts are that thousands of small businesses-- Hispanically owned or otherwise--pay taxes at the highest marginal rate."--to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Washington, D.C.; March 19 2001

"The true threat is whether or not one of these people decide, peak of anger, try to hold us hostage, ourselves; the Israelis, for example, to whom we'll defend, offer our defenses, the South Koreans." —Washington D.C., March 13 2001

"If the terriers and bariffs (barriers and tariffs) are torn down, this economy will grow." —Rochester, New York, January 7 2001
"If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign." —Hilton Head, South Carolina, 16 February 2000
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." —Saginaw, Mich., 29 September 2000 (referring to a dispute over Upper Klamath Lake)
"They misunderestimated me." —Bentonville, Arkansas, 6 November 2000
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it." —Reuters, May 5 2000
"I understand small business growth. I was one." —New York Daily News, 19 February 2000
"We ought to make the pie higher." —South Carolina Republican Debate, 15 February 2000
"It's your money. You paid for it." —La Crosse, Wisconsin, 18 October 2000
"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case." —Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, 30 January 2000
"The administration I'll bring is a group of men and women who are focused on what's best for America, honest men and women, decent men and women, women who will see service to our country as a great privilege and who will not stain the house." —Des Moines Register debate, Iowa, 15 January 2000
"Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research: human cloning in all its forms, creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos. Human life is a gift from our Creator - and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale." 31 January 2006 Seperation of Church and State?

Make the Pie Higher poem

"Make the Pie Higher" is a poem comprising Bushisms. Each line contains a malapropism said to have been uttered by George W. Bush. Although its origin is uncertain, it has been attributed to Washington Post political cartoonist and satirist Richard Thompson. The poem has been criticized as apocryphal. However, all but a couple of lines have been verified by the Urban Legends Reference Pages at Snopes.com as having been spoken by Bush at one point or another during his Presidency. The only line for which a primary source has not been located was "I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity."

Make the Pie Higher

I think we all agree, the past is over.

This is still a dangerous world.

It's a world of madmen and uncertainty

and potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked

Is our children learning?

Will the highways of the Internet become more few?

How many hands have I shaked?

They misunderestimate me.

I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.

I know that the human being and the fish can coexist peacefully.

Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!

Knock down the tollbooth!

Vulcanize society!

Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!

Bushism

Background

List of Bushisms

Make the Pie Higher poem

Make the Pie Higher

References

See also

Further reading