Obama-ism

Obama-isms are unconventional words, phrases, pronunciations, malapropisms, and semantic or linguistic errors that occur in the public speaking of President of the United States Barack Obama. The term has led to the creation of websites, books, and other media. Common characteristics include malapropisms, the creation of neologisms, spoonerisms, stunt words and confusion with geography. This is similar to the Bushisms of former President George W. Bush.
Discussion
Some media outlets have drawn attention to Obama's public speaking gaffs. While not receiving the same media attention as George W. Bush's verbal gaffs, Stanford Graduate School Lecturer and former Bush economic policy advisor Keith Hennessey has argued that Obama's number of gaffs would be similar to Bush's if his speeches were given the same level of scrutiny. In June 2012, Obama admitted that he is just as gaff prone as anyone who speaks extensively in public.
Examples
General
*"The Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries." in Tampa, FL, Jan. 28, 2010
*"What I was suggesting -- you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith..." mistakenly referring to his Christian religion as muslim.
*Awkwardly deliverying a toast during the British National Anthem, May 24, 2011
*"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong."
*"It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There's a lot of -- I don't know what the term is in Austrian, wheeling and dealing." --confusing German for "Austrian," a language which does not exist in Strasbourg, France, Apr 6, 2009
Geography
*"If we don’t deepen our ports all along the Gulf — places like Charleston, South Carolina, or Savannah, Georgia, or Jacksonville, Florida — if we don’t do that, those ships are going to go someplace else."
*"We're the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad." in Cincinnati, OH, Sep 22, 2011"
 
< Prev   Next >