Obamaisms taking on Bushisms?

Islamabad, Nov 7 (PTI) While outgoing U.S. President
George W Bush's famous quotes, better known as "Bushisms",
kept political humorists busy through his two terms,
President-elect Barack Obama too has opened an account in the
humour dictionary with his gaffes being compiled as
"Obamaisms".

"Obomedy" – jokes on Obama's life – are being updated
on a daily basis and derivatives of words suffixed to the
President-elect's name are fast becoming a part of the
vocabulary.

"Obamania", "Obamadrama", "Obamaffair",
"Obamafication", "Obamafied", "Obamafy", "Obamagance",
"Obamaganda" and scores of others have already found a place
in the Urban Dictionary.

U.S.-based magazine Slate has launched "Barack: The
Encyclopaedia Baracktannica" to keep Obama fans and detractors
updated on Obamaisms.

"It's hard to imagine that Barack Obama would be as
big of a phenomenon if his name were, say, Tom Smith. As
numerous fans, detractors, reporters, and bloggers have
demonstrated, it's a name that lends itself to
neologisms—everything from 'Barackstar' to 'Obamania' to
'Omentum'…We present the unabridged Encyclopaedia
Baracktannica, a list of words that have been 'Obamafied' by
Slate," reads a statement on Slate's website.

Apart from many Obama derivatives, there are syndromes
devoted to the President-elect. "Post-Baratic stress disorder"
has been described as "a sporadic recurrence of giddiness
typically displayed by those who have recently returned from
an Obama rally" and a "Baractogenarian" is an Obama supporter
over the age of 20.

Though Obamaisms are increasingly gaining coinage,
President Bush is still going strong with his famous quotes.

Bush's comment on the liquidity in the markets – "This
thaw -- took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to
unthaw" about a fortnight ago or "the people in Louisiana must
know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer –
prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And
I'm one of them" – are still clocking hits.

Obama may never be able to better Bush's record, but
his gaffes are being recorded for posterity. "Let me introduce
to you the next President -- the next Vice President of the
United States of America, Joe Biden," he said, slipping up
while introducing Joe Biden at their first joint campaign
rally in August.

On another occasion, he said: "On this Memorial Day,
as our nation honours its unbroken line of fallen heroes – and
I see many of them in the audience here today – our sense of
patriotism is particularly strong."

Other memorable Obama quotes were, "I've now been in
57 states – I think one left to go" and "In case you missed
it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand
people died – an entire town destroyed" – on a Kansas tornado
that killed 12 people.

But the gem doing the rounds is a video about Obama
wherein he was asked if Republican Presidential nominee John
McCain had done anything to suggest he's Muslim. Obama said,
"Let's not play games. What I was suggesting – you're
absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my
Muslim faith.

"And you're absolutely right that that has not
come....my Christian faith," he added after being prompted.

Like the many books on Bush, Obamaisms are doing good
business too. Apart from "Barack: The Encyclopedia
Baracktannica", "Obamamania! The English Language,
Barackafied" is a hot pick for many. PTI RHL
DEP