Sunday, June 7, 2009

Racist vs. racialist

Am I the only person who never heard the term "racialist" before the Sotomayor nomination? Republicans, like Newt Gingrich, have taken to saying, "I don't know if she's racist but she's racialist."

What does that mean? There's no sarcasm here. I honestly have no idea what "racialist" means.

Perhaps Republicans have trouble with suffixes. They all have to say "Democrat Party" instead of "Democratic Party." (For those keeping score, Rush started using the term "Democrat party" long before anyone else. Now it is a Republican testament of faith to use the term. Even our beloved Senator Grassley - that I praise way too much on this blog - says it.)

2 comments:

  1. Antopideans often use "racialist" as a synonym for "racist." some Americans might have confused these synonyms as words with distinct meanings. That's a common way that language grows, out of words crossing from one culture or subculture to another and changing meaning along the way, often because some dumbass misuses the word as he brings it from one group to another. -A.

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  2. Thanks A - but now I have to confess I don't know what Antopideans are.

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