Truthiness

[Fred Shapiro]

On Sun, 8 Jan 2006, Baker, John wrote:

>        Does "truthiness" really have defenders as a WOTY?  This kind of
> nonce-word, a comic alteration of "truthfulness," seems quintessentially
> ephemeral and limited to its originator.  Even "info-snacking" was a
> more plausible choice.

I am not sure what the official criteria are for WOTY, but it seems to me
that one criterion might be that the word captures the zeitgeist of the
time.  I think "truthiness" wonderfully captures the political tendencies
of current Republicanism/fundamentalism.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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