Monday, February 9, 2009

So long, Bush: The man who created ‘misunderestimated’

I didn’t think a word that rhymes with Osama would floor America. Lip readers apparently saw Bush tell Obama during the swearing-in that he "was relieved". I'll miss Bush because whole comedy acts and talk shows survived on his bloopers. The classic one was 'misunderestimated', but it can be a valid word.
The world likes to blame Bush, but he alone isn't responsible for terrorism. Mankind's 10,000 years of known history is mostly about war. We are addicted to violence. Human beings create complex ethical positions, which lead to lot of non-instinctual violence. What I mean is, animals are violent too but it is an expression of their survival instinct. However, man has the unusual ability to justify violence that has no connection with the foodchain. For instance, Bush bombed Afghanistan to rubble to make the world a safer place. When it comes to violence, logic comes under severe attack. At one point I used to think Afghanistan is a dangerous place. Now I know, the US is no different. It is all about the guy who is on top, finally. Only a leader who loves to say ‘bombs away’ would sanction war in the name of peace. While this sounds idealistic, it explains why the US is the ‘world’s’ biggest target. Someone or the other wants to bomb the US. That is because the US likes to bomb the world as well. How long can you trample somebody’s dignity?
All said and done, I think Bush has, unwittingly, created an useful word. ‘Misunderestimated’ describes a complex event simply, that of underestimating someone mistakenly because of a misunderstanding. It is close to the quality of Chinese characters. One Chinese character can stand for, say, "Mao wear lipstick during autumn because his lip fade in cold". ‘Misunderestimated’ can be used to describe America’s fiasco in Vietnam. The war with ‘Nam proved how the US misunderstood itself (especially its youth) and underestimated Vietnamese guerrillas. A ‘Nam veteran can easily explain everything by simply saying: ‘Vietnam was misunderestimated'. It wouldn't be wrong to say that in world politics Gaza, Afghanistan and Iraq too have been misunderestimated.
I think this word will be America’s most important contribution to the English language soon. Only American word that comes close to it is ‘bobbitt’. Imagine a sentence that goes: "When Lorena bobitted her husband in 1994, she misunderestimated medical science and the police." It says everything that needs to be said about the Bobbitt affair: Jealous Lorena cut off her cheating hubby's willy and threw it in the garden. Little did she think the cops would find the appendage, put it in an icebox and hand it over to the doctors, who would then proceed to stitch it back. The operation would be a roaring success and Mr Bobbitt would go on to make porn flicks.
I am sure Lorena didn't expect to be immortalised by the dictionary makers. Anyway, I’m voting for ‘misunderestimate’. A word in hand is better than two with Bush (lame, no?).

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