6.249 Dick Armey's slip and correction

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-249. Sat 18 Feb 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines: 52
 
Subject: 6.249 Dick Armey's slip and correction
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Asst. Editors: Ron Reck <rreck at emunix.emich.edu>
               Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
               Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
 
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1)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 16:30:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: Dave Wharton (WHARTOND at steffi.uncg.edu)
Subject: Dick Armey's slip and correction
 
-------------------------Messages--------------------------------------
1)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 16:30:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: Dave Wharton (WHARTOND at steffi.uncg.edu)
Subject: Dick Armey's slip and correction
 
I was curious if anyone was actually interested in
verifying whether Armey's slip was actually a slip.
But since someone has asked what the time delay
between the utterance of "Barney Fag" and his correction:
having heard a replay, I would say the delay was less
than a second. IMO, the utterance was definitely a
slip and not a slur.
 
Other factors would support this conclusion, apart from
the delay, phonology, etc., primary among them the fact
that Armey isn't stupid. He's a Ph.D. in Economics, and
has the political savvy to get himself elected majority
whip. Only the politically (or linguistically) tendentious
would be likely to assert that someone of his political
skills would think it to his advantage to make such an
utterance.
 
What a shame it was to see members of this list anxious
to use their professional skills (or to abuse them) in
order to make a political point. Two weeks into this discussion
and only now does anyone actually inquire into the data.
It makes one wonder how much linguistic research is driven
by other agendas, and what the quality of that research is...
 
Dave Wharton
 
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