5 years of "truthiness"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 10:37 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
>
> 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.

Here's an extended excerpt of my interview with Colbert:

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2452/

--bgz


--
Ben Zimmer
bgzimmer at gmail.com

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