This isn't political although the question concerns a politician.

I suppose everyone knows Sarah Palin (like George Bush) has a tendency to coin new words. She recently wrote on her Facebook page about the women who run Emily's List, describing them as a "cackle of rads." "Rads" is a shortened "radicals" but what is a "cackle"? The dictionary says it's the sound hens make but she seems to be using it to describe a collective group of people, which is wrong. Do you think she meant to say "gaggle"?

Probably, but I rather like this particular coinage.

Despite what I think of Palin, I agree with Bob. If it's deliberate, it's sans doute the cleverest thing she's ever said. It's way better than her usual excretions.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,

Ah, well. I am the wet blanket. It sounds sexist to me. "Cackle" is hardly a positive word. BTW, is it a "cackle of hyenas?" We're out of town, and I don't have access to my "An Exaltation of Larks" book.

Now why would a right-wing extremist like Palin denigrate "rads?" Since the term derives from the Latin for "root," it suggests fundamentalism, and her ilk claim to love fundamentals, so she's griping about the very thing she supposedly espouses

Geoff, who refuses to join her grovel of sycophants

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:
Now why would a right-wing extremist like Palin denigrate "rads?" Since the term derives from the Latin for "root," it suggests fundamentalism

Watch out for the etymological fallacy there. As a political term, it suggests extremism, and I'm sure she doesn't consider herself an extremist.

Sure, Goofy, but I'm doing my best to reframe the term!

As for her not considering herself an extremist, I quote the late Senator Barry Goldwater: "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!" Palin may well be of his ilk.