December 1, 2011

If you'd called something "unadultered complete nonsense"...

... would you highlight that phrase in a self-promoting ad?

You would if you were Wisconsin legislator Brett Hulsey, who's made himself the central character in his new ad against Governor Scott Walker. And the non-word "unadultered" is not the most embarrassing thing about the ad:
The ad continues with Hulsey saying, "I stood up to Gov. Walker. I went to his press conference and said, 'What you have just heard is unadultered [sic] complete nonsense.'"

... The governor did hold a news conference that day, but Hulsey never directly confronted him. What actually happened was that Hulsey waited until the governor had left the room, took over the podium and directed his comments to reporters.
ADDED: I Googled "unadultered" and the first hit took me to some unbelievably evil song lyrics apparently written by a band significant enough to have a Wikipedia page. I have no idea whether Hulsey is into this "Illinois-based hardcore punk, grindcore, and death metal band," but sometimes song lyrics give someone the idea that a non-word is a word. It can be embarrassing. For example, maybe you thought it made sense to call something "swonderful."

IN THE COMMENTS: David said:
Althouse speaks the pompatus of truth.
ADDED: Instapundit links with "WHEN ILLITERATE YAHOO STATE LEGISLATORS attack."

123 comments:

kjbe said...

Be wary of attention whores.

Curious George said...

He was afraid of Meade. Walker would make him soil himself.

AllenS said...

Unfalse.

MadisonMan said...

So not ready for primetime.

But the same thing was said of W.

The electorate can do astonishing things.

The Crack Emcee said...

If you'd called something "unadultered complete nonsense" would you highlight that phrase in a self-promoting ad?

You would if you were stuuuupid,....

Curious George said...

"MadisonMan said...
So not ready for primetime.

But the same thing was said of W.

The electorate can do astonishing things"

Idiocy. Bush was Governor of one of the most populace states for six years. Hulsey is a stupid state Rep ( for just a few years) who couldn't get elected dog catcher outside of Madison. He chairs no committees.

garage mahal said...

I have no idea whether Hulsey is into this "Illinois-based hardcore punk, grindcore, and death metal band," but sometimes song lyrics give someone the idea that a non-word is a word

I wish you could appreciate just how utterly wingnutty you've become. Just nuts.

Anonymous said...

"Unadultered" is a perfectly cromulent word in Austrian.

DADvocate said...

I went to a speech by Richard Nixon and said "This is the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard." No one heard me, but I said it.

Curious George said...

This pussy wants to be governor?

Please make it so!

Bob Ellison said...

Reminds me of the classic Sarah McLachlan lyric: "What ravages of spirit conjured this temptuous rage?"

Probably people should be forgiven for missing a syllable now and again. But probably not when they immortalize said smooshed words in songs or TV ads.

Rob said...

C'mon, Althouse, can't you accommode his approxition of the English language? I am sure he will try to be more accur in the future.

DADvocate said...

I wish you could appreciate just how utterly wingnutty you've become. Just nuts.

Said the moonbat.

JBeuks said...

If Ann's suggesting that "unadulterated" is a nonword, she's mistaken. According to my Webster's (which might be a better place than Google to start if you're going to attack someone for making up words), "adulterate" means "to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance, esp. to prepare for sale by replacing more valuable with less valuable or inert ingredients." "Unadulterated" therefore means simply that something hasn't been debased, or, figuratively, that it's pure. Synonym to "utter" or "complete." I'll stipulate that Hulsey sounds like an idiot as well as a liar, but the snarky suggestion that he makes up words is off-base. Facts, yes; words, no.

Bob Ellison said...

Curious George, yours is the funniest comment this week!

Bob Ellison said...

No, wait; JBeuks has you beaten!

JBeuks said...

Oops, I missed the fact that Hulsey said "unadultered," not "unadulterated." As Emily Litella used to say, "Never mind."

Rob said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MadisonMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tim said...

Curious George said...

"Idiocy. Bush was Governor of one of the most populace states for six years. Hulsey is a stupid state Rep ( for just a few years) who couldn't get elected dog catcher outside of Madison. He chairs no committees."

Indeed so. And, until 2004, Barack Obama was a do-nothing, vote-present back-bencher in the Illinois State Senate. He is the great Whi...er, Hope for all do-nothing, vote-present, back-bencher state legislators everywhere that there will always be a collection of voters stupid enough to promote the unaccomplished state legislator to real power.

For realz.

Known Unknown said...

I wish you could appreciate just how utterly wingnutty you've become. Just nuts.

Huzzah! Garage and I agree.

Those Googled lyrics have nothing to do with this.

Unadulterated is just one of those non-words that sound like it should be a word ... for someone who doesn't have an expansive vocabulary and wants to sound "smart" uses.

It's like 'impactful'... not a word, but used by a lot of supposed intelligent people.

Bob Ellison said...

For all intensive porpoises, this is a mute argumentation. Hulsey was altuitively shedding schadentears over Walker's unability to pressent a good raisin for his pollacies.

MayBee said...

He should have said "adultered", right?

Bob Ellison said...

Damn you, Siri!

MadisonMan said...

u-n-a-d-u-l-t-e-r-a-t-e-d.

That is a word. It means you haven't added any contaminants to it. It's a genuine word, used by all sorts of people, especially in food services.

E. M. Davis, I don't know what you're talking about.

I also love: mute argumentation. What? What?

Bob Ellison said...

MadisonMan, I meant to say "fruit plantation."

Known Unknown said...

And the non-word "unadultered" is not the most embarrassing thing about the ad:

I was just following the Professor's lead. He said "unadultered" rather than "unadulterated", but i typed the real word "unadulterated" in my comment.

I was saying that the non-word "unadultered" sounds like something that should be a word, even though it's not.

Known Unknown said...

My agreement with GM was that Hulsey honestly appropriated the non-word as a result of listening to hardcore punk lyrics, rather than just use a non-word that sounded like a real word.

Chip Ahoy said...

Moot.

Anonymous said...

Swonderful - If it was good enough for Gershwin, it's good enough for me.

Bob Ellison said...

Chip, I want to start a company with you.

Meade said...

Irregardless of what all of you may thimk, I have gotten the entreprenurinal jump on things and have copywrotted and printed up 500,000 bumper stickers:

BRENT HULSEY FOR GROVERNOR

Ann Althouse said...

"Those Googled lyrics have nothing to do with this."

I Googled the word to find out how prevalent the mistake is and to see if there's any pattern to where the mistake is coming from. In that light, I thought it was interesting that such a shocking song lyric came up first. Then I made a joke. Sorry if you don't enjoy my sense of humor... but my sense of humor is kind of a thing here on my blog. Why are you reading my blog, anyway?

Bryan said...

Had a teacher in high school that used the word "simular" to describe things that are alike. At the end of the year I made him aware of this via the survey he passed out to his students. Never found out if my suggestion was appreciated.

He was a good man and not unintelligent. Maybe it was some sort of regional accent thing, don't know.

bagoh20 said...

Everyone thinks THEY are unadultered, but the spouse is always the last to know.

Bob Ellison said...

Professor, you're not sorry. You find his lack of ongst humiferous. Admit it.

madAsHell said...

Why are you reading my blog, anyway?

Yeah...I'd like to see the responses on that thread!!

w/v: curitiv

Curious George said...

"MadisonMan said...
I also love: mute argumentation. What? What?"

I had a boss that said "mute" in place of "moot"..."It's a mute point". Also said "eKcetera"...

bagoh20 said...

Yea, those lyrics are a thing of true uplifting beauty - they just uplifted my breakfast.

Charlie Schnickelfritz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
edutcher said...

Maybe he just meant childish, but couldn't think of the precise word.

(no, I don't, either...)

Anonymous said...

An adulterer is one who cheats on his or her spouse. So then "adultered" is the verb to describe what has happened to the non-cheating spouse, as in "I've been adutered by my whore of a wife." Therefore, "unadultered" means that you haven't been cheated on by your spouse.
Makes sense to me.
Except the way he used it.

Rob said...

Meade, it is obvious to me that no one appreciates our Hoosier humor. Very sad.

MayBee said...

Someone is adultured on his 18th birthday.

"Unadultered" would be a synonym for "unmanned".

William said...

Alice ran away with the Owl and the Pussycat for a hot week-end and engaged in adultered complete nonsense.

David said...

Althouse speaks the pompatus of truth.

Rob said...

Or Bob's, for that matter.

Mary Beth said...

'S marvelous.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary Beth said...

Althouse speaks the pompatus of truth.
+1

Mary Beth said...

William Charles, I am too insignificant to have a Wikipedia page. I am uninpeded.

Rob said...

But does anyone call her the "space cowgirl"? Meade? The "Gangster of Law", maybe?

Anonymous said...

There is nothing too insignificant to have a Wikipedia page

Brian Brown said...

MadisonMan said...
So not ready for primetime.

But the same thing was said of W.

The electorate can do astonishing things.



Given the background and performance of the current occupant of the White House, your post is laugh out loud funny.

JamesH said...

Mary Beth....you don't have feet?

DADvocate said...

no one appreciates our Hoosier humor

Hoosier's have a sense of humor? Who would have known.

MadisonMan said...

Althouse speaks the pompatus of truth.

I was just about to ask what song that word is from, and then it came to me.

Maurice!

Dust Bunny Queen said...

"unadultered"

A marriage wherein both partners are faithful to the other.

Corsair, The Mostly Harmless said...

"Unadultered?" Sounds like a perfectly cromulent word.

James said...

>>For all intensive porpoises, this is a mute argumentation. Hulsey was altuitively shedding schadentears over Walker's unability to pressent a good raisin for his pollacies.<<


LOL

edutcher said...

MadisonMan said...

Althouse speaks the pompatus of truth.

I was just about to ask what song that word is from, and then it came to me.

Maurice!


No, "The Joker".

Some people call him the Space Cowboy, some call him the Gangster of Love, some people call him Maurrrr-r-rice.

Pat said...

"Bush was Governor of one of the most populace states for six years."

The word you want is "populous." Yes, "populace" sounds the same, but it's a different word with a different meaning. They're not even then same part of speech (one is a noun, the other is an adjective).

Anonymous said...

Illinois-based hardcore punk, grindcore, and death metal bands probably have more influence on Illinois-based Wisconsin senators than they do on Wisconsin-based Wisconsin assemblymen.

MadisonMan said...

Maurice was not meant to be construed as the title. Just a word from the song, like pompatus.

virgil xenophon said...

Hate to be a picky, picky, picky pedant, but Meades' use of "irregardless" is "non-standard." The correct usage should be either "regardless" or "irrespective."

Just sayin'..

(Of course he slipped in "THIMK" so maybe he actually meant to use "irregardless" for effect.)

Scott M said...

(Of course he slipped in "THIMK" so maybe he actually meant to use "irregardless" for effect.)

Yep. If you turn the snarkometer on in your browser settings, it would have been easy to spot given the polkadot highlighting. Of course, those are my settings. I think you can pick corduroy as well. Irregardless, it's a no brainer.

Anonymous said...

Maurice can use any damn title he likes so long as I get to be the pompatus of usage.

jimspice said...

Wait, I thought a demonstrable loose grasp on the English language endeared conservatives to a candidate, showing he or she is just a regular guy/gal.

DADvocate said...

Hulsey's been using the Joe Jefferson Vocabulary Builder Upper.

Scott M said...

Wait, I thought a demonstrable loose grasp on the English language endeared conservatives to a candidate, showing he or she is just a regular guy/gal.

To an extent, sure. That's probably true for anyone irregardless of ideology. However, it's worth pointing out the lack of media criticisms for grammatical abberations of Democrats recently when they hammered on GW mercilessly for years.

Bob Ellison said...

This thread is like an intelligence test for commenters.

garage mahal said...

WHEN ILLITERATE YAHOO STATE LEGISLATORS

"It was nice to have are pastor back preaching today. Now kind of quiet w/out Packer game"

Gov Scott Walker on Twitter. Sunday Nov 27.

Curious George said...

Pat said...
"Bush was Governor of one of the most populace states for six years."

The word you want is "populous." Yes, "populace" sounds the same, but it's a different word with a different meaning. They're not even then same part of speech (one is a noun, the other is an adjective)."

Yep. Doing a bunch of things. Feel free to go back through all my comments and provide corrections.

Brian Brown said...

I thought a demonstrable loose grasp on the English language endeared conservatives to a candidate, showing he or she is just a regular guy/gal.


I guess that is why Hillary and Obama change speaking styles and cadences when speaking in black churches.

Are all of you leftists this ignorant, or is that just you?

MayBee said...

Pat's speaking the populace of truth.

Curious George said...

"Brett Hulsey, · State Representative at Wisconsin State Legislature:

The most troubling part is that Gov Walker said here, "My only fear would be that if there was a ruckus caused is that would scare the public into thinking the governor's got to settle to avoid all these problems." Walker said he didn't bring in troublemakers because he thought he might have to meet with workers and protect their rights and freedoms. I think that's what leaders are supposed to do, meet with people to protect their rights and freedoms."



Hullsey using a typical liberal tactic, saying what a person really means.

Cosmo said...

Reports indicate that Hulsey snuck* up to the podium.



*With any luck, Hulsey's non-word will be used enough times to merit its inclusion in Webster's, if for no other reason than to validate stupidosity.

Bayoneteer said...

What a bunch of nitpicking grammar nannies some of you people are. When you have nothing left to argue you bitch about rhetoric and grammar. Hulsey was not dictating a Masters Thesis here but answering questions at a presser. BFD.

Scott M said...

@kenk

Given your sentiments, the fact that you took the time to post your comment is irregardlessly the funniest thing so far in this thread.

Congrats.

Original Mike said...

I thought the only words Hulsey knew were "millionaires and billionaries".

Peter said...

Well, it's better than calling the Lincoln Tunnel the "Linkin' Tunnel."

Even if it does link New York and New Jersey.

Rob said...

Wow. Let us be explicit: It is one thing to make a minor error, it is another thing to repeat it in an advertisement. That is one of the points of Ms. Althouse's original post. Not the main point, granted, but one of the points.

ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION:
Meade and Bob and I have posts making light of Mr. Hulsey's statement. We know we are abusing the language. Honest.

jae said...

I'll fall back on John Wayne here:

"Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid."

Mike said...

"unadultered"? Well at least he didn't cheat on his wife or boyfriend.

ken in tx said...

Normalcy was not a word until it was used by Warren G. Harding in his presidential campaign.

Sigivald said...

Adultery is a thing. Adulteration is a thing.

Something that is unadultered either hasn't had sex outside of its marriage, or is pure.

What's the problem?

The English, she grows.

Known Unknown said...

Why are you reading my blog, anyway?

It comes highly recommended by my friends at Amazon.com?

David-2 said...

It's a doggy dog world in the comments on this blog.

TheThinMan said...

He's not illiterate. His parents were married!

bgates said...

I thought a demonstrably loose grasp on the English language endeared conservatives to a candidate,

just like a demonstrably loose grasp on reality endears progressives to theirs.

DADvocate said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scott M said...

Yeah. Ain't they got no fetchin'?

Anonymous said...

So Hulsey is finially acting on his dreams of being a candide for higher officious. Irrespectful of the time he's already served in the Legislure, which isn't tremendful, he's got the ambitial and experture to demonstrify state-wide adulterous leadship. This is his moment of opportunicy, and he's seazing it.

(A pitial effort, as I hain't got much time today for suchlike folderol.)

DADvocate said...

What a bunch of nitpicking grammar nannies some of you people are.

Some people ain't got no good English and it's time we learned them how to talk. If you may want a country full of ignoramuses, but we'ns don't.

wv: mitte - our next presidunt.

bagoh20 said...

Anyone who's English is gooder than mine, is not of much use outside of secretary or legal work which is very similar.

Scott M said...

It's pronounced simular. The "h" is silent.

MadisonMan said...

How many songs actually have the name Maurice in them, anyway?

I guess it comes in handy if you're trying to rhyme fleece and don't want to use piece, geese, niece or Rhys.

coketown said...

So...I read the lyrics to the song Althouse linked to. And I'm curious: did anyone take up the website's offer and set the song as their ringtone?

MadisonMan said...

BTW -- it's spelled MadisonMan but it's pronounced Throat Warbler Mangrove.

Scott M said...

Throat Warbler Mangrove

Hat-tip Graham Chapman. Awesomedeadsauce.

Christopher in MA said...

Ken in SC - "normalcy" actually is a word (albeit an obscure one) and was for about 50-60 years before Harding used it in place of "normality," which was the word he was searching for when he said "we do not need nostrums but normalcy."

There's my picky language bit of the day. And I have never kissed the editor of the Radio Times.

traditionalguy said...

Adulterated means made a into mixture or blend and therefore no longer pure.

Unadultered is an adultered word. It seems silly because it tries to say "not made impure",while using an impure word.

It is using a choke hold on a word.

But a little literary sniping will go a long way in Madison, the home of the most educated elite.

LordSomber said...

Speaking of adulterating, where are the grown-ups?

James said...

It is using a choke hold on a word.

You guys are killing me.

Known Unknown said...

Cromulent.

Nice.

prairie wind said...

What a bunch of nitpicking grammar nannies some of you people are.

In a long string of funny comments, that is the funniest.

I would never have married a nitpicking grammar nanny but am wicked glad that my husband did.

orbicularioculi said...

This rises to the level of pure unadulterated STUPIDITY. Of course we're dealing with liberal miseducated public employees here.

What can anyone expect of dolts.

Fernandinande said...

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/adultered

adultered
See: bad, inferior

So I guess "unadultered" means "good" or "superior".

Dante said...

Big deal. Unadultured, unadulterated, it's a typo/mis-speak. The big deal is the meaning is clear, and he was wrong.

As I get older, and my fingers take over parts of my spelling, I find that I use incorrect homonyms from time to time. I find it absolutely ridiculous when the meaning is clear for someone to say "Oh, you don't know the difference between cite and sight," for instance.

Who cares. This is the internet generation of bff, lmao, omg, etc.

Scott M said...

Who cares. This is the internet generation of bff, lmao, omg, etc.

"Who cares" should be followed with a question mark.

Anonymous said...

Dante thinks the Internet age is ascendant.

So its ok t mod our tak, asif were all txt msgn all d tim. N all d long words shld b shortnd. Ima try dis den: frm now, all my cmts here gonna be in full txt. Lemme no whn t stop, whn u givup n want rl english. So all my long words b like adultere.

The Elder said...

You guys are hilarious! Norm Crosby would love this thread. He built a whole career as a comedian around this. But Norm knew he was being funny. Mr. Hulsey has no idea how funny he is.

Anonymous said...

Another craptacular example: I once worked with a guy who believed that a synonym for "appropriate" was a word that he pronounced and spelled in correspondence as "appropo."

Mary Beth said...

I replied to a comment that was deleted while I was writing and then later reposted. I'm going to deny this is what happened, I'm going to claim prescience.

Fortunes told: 25¢.

Doc Merlin said...

Its a perfectly cromulent neologism.

pfennig said...

In this TV commercial, Hulsey is fondly reliving the Capitol demonstrations and retrospectively positioning himself in the middle of them. For most people in Wisconsin, the whole Capitol mess is something we would rather forget. It reminds me of how welcome my dog is after he rolls around in grass where some bird had died.

Dante said...

"Who cares" should be followed with a question mark.

Argue the substance. The guy's substance was clear. Complaining about this kind of stuff is simply an ad hominem attack.

In this case, it seems the guy was making a deceitful claim. Now that's worth discussing.

And incidentally, dictionary.com does have an entry for "Adulter" anyway:

A*dul"ter\, v. i. [L. adulterare.] To commit adultery; to pollute. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

So there you have it. If I had my unabridged dictionary handy, I would look it up (just moved, in a box somehwere). In this case, it seems the usage is actually OK.

Nate Whilk said...

I just looked up "adulter" in the OED, and it's there, all right, but marked "Obs." (obsolete).

Definition 1 is indeed "To commit or practice adultery". Definition 2 is the same as modern "adulterate".

Furthermore, the entry on "adulterate" has the first definition (marked Obs.) as "To commit or practice adultery".

So perhaps it's a construction analogous to the verbs "orient" and "orientate".

wv: bostone

Anga2010 said...

Ramona told me, "I had a similar problem, thinking that a "dawnzer" was a lamp."

MadisonMan said...

Dante, turn on your humor switch.

MadisonMan said...

Anga210, well it does give off Lee Light.

Dante said...

Dante, turn on your humor switch.

I don't like ad hominem attacks. I think it's a form of group-think designed to get a bunch of people nodding their heads, and I don't see how it advances anything but division.

It allows issues to be obscured, and I think we need to be serious about the issues.

that having been said, the "put a question mark on it" is somewhat OK. It was my rhetoric anyway, and it's fair game, as it was meant to show disdain.

Scott M said...

Complaining about this kind of stuff is simply an ad hominem attack.

Wrong. It could simply be light-hearted snark intended to make readers here laugh. You're verging on doth-protest-too-much territory.