From today's news ....

quote:

In Bush's meeting with Iraqi central government leaders he "congratulated them . . . for the achievement" of signing an agreement in the past week to work together on provincial elections, debathification, and other issues but emphasized it was only "a starting point," Hadley told Pentagon reporters.

Does anyone here have any idea of the meaning of debathification? ...

... Never mind ... I found it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jerry thomas,

Wow...it sounds racist to me. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it (not much!). They link the etymology to "denazification," though "etymology" is probably not the right word.

Hmm - my first guess would be the elimination of Sadaam Hussein's "Baath" party. I didn't bother to follow Wikipedia, but given the context, it didn't seem worth the effort

Bob
p.s. - Ha!!! for those who thought they'd seen the last of me

With half the waater supply in ruins, I'd guess it meant no more waashing.

FWIW, debaathification gets 10 times the ghits as debathification. I don't quite see what's the hubbub. Seems like a straight-forward coining. Nazi was the term for the NSDAP, the party in control of Germany when WW2 started, and Baath for the Iraqi political party that was in power when the US and UK invaded.

quote:

I don't quite see what's the hubbub.

No hubbub here, zmjeŽd

I noticed a word that had been uttered by our eloquent President -- a word that was new to me -- and, wondering what that word meant, I consulted an online dictionary and found nothing. So I came to this place that offers questions and answers about words and got good answers, for which I thank you.... no hubbub.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jerry thomas,

a word that was new to me

Sorry for reading into it something more than it was: a question. I didn't hear the President's speech, but I have heard the word used a bit before the current year. I was just surprised that folks seemed mystified by it. In fact, this afternoon I heard a news story on NPR about how the Iraqi parliament hasn't gotten around to a bunch of laws they were supposed to pass. One was about deba(a)thification. So, if I've trodden upon anybody's toes, please accept my apologies.

Yes, I have been reading about it and found it used back in 2003.

Well, there's a little bit of a hubbub about it, politically at least (what else is new?!); a good example can be found in this Washington Post article, where they make comments like, "But many people here have been appalled by the destruction of the monuments, as well as the stealth with which the committee has gone about its work."

I suppose, though, it all depends on what you mean by "hubbub."

Bob, it is nice to see you back. Now we'd like to see you stay!

quote:

... it all depends on what you mean by "hubbub"

Hubbub

Word History: It has often been remarked that the early Celtic inhabitants of Britain contributed very little to the stock of English words. Perhaps this should not surprise us, given the difficult relations over the centuries between the people of Germanic stock and the people of Celtic stock in England and Ireland. It seems likely that a certain English contempt resides in the adoption of the word hubbub from a Celtic source, which is probably related to ub ub ubub, a Scots Gaelic interjection expressing contempt, or to abu, an ancient Irish war cry. In any case, hubbub was first recorded (1555) in the phrase Irish hubbub and meant "the confused shouting of a crowd." In addition to the senses it has developed, hubbub was again used, possibly in an unflattering way, by the New England colonists as a term for a rambunctious game played by Native Americans.

Nice discussion, Jer.

But, still, like any word, it has evolved over the years. There are many different definitions of hubbub in Onelook, from "an uproar" or "turmoil" to something much more mild such as "excitement."

I'd say that debaathification caused some "excitement," though it didn't throw us into "turmoil."

To my mind, "hubbub" contains some element of noise. Since the discussion is in written form, it is not a word I would use in such a context.

Or maybe a "skimmington". http://skimmingtoncastle.com/

Once one of my locals.

noise

"In cyberspace nobody can hear your hubbub." There is noise and there is noise. To me, noise is, like static, something that impedes the transfer of information. What's the hubbub, ruckus, or commotion? The latter's etymology implies movement. Come to think of it, one calls the great unwashed a mob, though it is possibly static, (not the same as above): cf. vulgus mobile 'the fickle commoners'. (Funny enough, English noise comes from Latin nausea 'seasickness'.) But, to each he own.

Again, I meant no disrespect by my use of the word hubbub. I suppose I could've used ballyhoo, but then somebody would complain that there was no advertising in it at all.

quote:

I suppose I could've used ballyhoo

No ... it was more of a brouhaha.

Nobody thought you meant disrespect, z. I just brought up a discussion of the word because probably everyone here had a bit of a different meaning for it. That's exactly what I love about our evolving language...and Wordcraft discussions.