RINO reinterpreted

[Benjamin Zimmer]

RINO is the disparaging acronym for moderate-to-liberal Republicans, who
conservatives call "Republicans In Name Only." See the archives for Barry
Popik's posts on the term (he dated it back to 1993 and noted the related
acronyms DINO = "Democrat In Name Only" and SINO = "Student In Name
Only").

Like so many pejoratives, RINO has been reinterpreted with a positive spin
by one of the intended targets. The founder of the "Raging RINOs" blog
community on the "Truth Laid Bear" site says it stands for "Republicans /
Independents Not Overdosed (on the Party Kool Aid)."

http://acepilots.com/mt/archives/002106.html
http://www.truthlaidbear.com/communitypage.php?community=rinos

(I assume that the knowing eggcornization "Truth Laid Bear" is a cousin of
"Gladly the Cross-Eyed Bear.")



--Ben Zimmer