5 years of "truthiness"

[Ben Zimmer]

My latest On Language column celebrates the fifth anniversary of Stephen
Colbert's (re)invention of "truthiness." I look back on the '05 ADS WOTY
vote and quote our esteemed colleagues Allan Metcalf and Ron Butters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/magazine/17FOB-onlanguage-t.html

I got to interview Colbert (not in character), and he was genuinely thankful
about the WOTY selection. He explained that his wife is an English major,
and for her, winning WOTY was the equivalent of having six-pack abs. He was
also grateful to the Associated Press for not mentioning him in their WOTY
story (while quoting Michael Adams, you'll recall), which provided his
character with a ready-made vendetta against the mainstream media.

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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