The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Well, Of Course: 14-Year-Old Wisconsin Tea Party Speaker Is Home-Schooler

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | 14 Comments

When I saw this video at Ann Althouse’s blog (hat-tip, Instapundit), I did some quick searching and learned that Tricia Willoughby is a home-schooler and debate champion, one of three daughters of Wisconsin pro-life leaders Bret and Nancy Willoughby:

As the father of six home-schooled kids myself, I’m very proud to see Miss Willoughby’s poise as a public speaker. However, she twice uses “enormity” in an incorrect sense. The word has a negative connotation: “an outrageous, improper, vicious, or immoral act . . . the quality or state of being immoderate, monstrous, or outrageous; especially: great wickedness.” While authorities differ on whether “enormity” can be used to signify large size (“enormousness” is preferred), using the word “enormity” to signify the momentous nature or historical import of an event one wishes to portray as positive (as Miss Willoughby does in reference to the Boston Tea Party) is always wrong.

Let’s hope that Miss Willoughby doesn’t mind this brief vocabulary lesson. Certainly, it is more well-intentioned than the vocabulary lesson offered by a certain Wisconsin union thug:

You can tell he’s a public-school alumnus: His vocabulary seems to be comprised chiefly of monosyllabic words with four letters.

Bookmark and Share
Category: Education, Tea Party, Unions, Video, Wisconsin

Comments

  • http://www.ace.mu.nu ol_dirty_/b/tard

    “However, she twice uses “enormity” in an incorrect sense. The word has a negative connotation: “an outrageous, improper, vicious, or immoral act . . . the quality or state of being immoderate, monstrous, or outrageous; especially: great wickedness.””

    Well The Smartest President EVAH did the same thing in a speech right after he was elected, and he’s (supposedly) a Harvard grad. At least the home-schooled chicky didn’t speak of “corpse-men”, 57 states, the Austrian language, or refer to Europe as a country, so she’s still a hell of a lot smarter than Preznit Obozo McStalinAcorn.

  • Anonymous

    Indeed. Our President isn’t exactly setting a high standard.

  • http://saberpoint.blogspot.com Stogie Chomper

    I disagree that the young lady misused the word “enormity.” Webster’s online says it can also mean “the quality or state of being huge or immense” and also “a quality of momentous importance or impact.” Neither of these definitions implies a negative connotation.

    Miss Willoughby 1
    Stacy McCain 0

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Are you sure about that?

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Second video clip Swiped from and Linked to at:
    The Naked And Dirty Face Of Leftism

  • Anonymous

    Thank you for that both of those videos, inspiring indeed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705855851 Joy McCann

    There is, Mr. McCain, a huge–possibly an enormous–difference between a word’s connotation and its denotation.

    I believe we’ve had cause to speak about this in the past.

  • Pingback: In Case you Were Questioning the Differences Between the Tea Parties and the Progressives… | Conservative Hideout 2.0

  • Pingback: Is This the Future of the Tea Party? « Gyrovague's Raves

  • http://anti-republicanculture.com Howard Towt

    Stacy:

    Congratulations on the link from Best of the Web! Mr. Taranto has recognized you for the enormity of your didactic posting.

  • Pingback: Ed Driscoll » Quote of the Day

  • http://twitter.com/smitty_one_each Chris Smith

    I wuz tryin’ to be the POTUS, but then I got high. . .

  • Pingback: Breakfast Scramble: Fighting like a girl

  • Pingback: Wisconsin: Are Liberals Aborting Themselves Into Political Oblivion? : The Other McCain

Performance Optimization WordPress Plugins by W3 EDGE