Condescension

The Word of the Day for October 6 is "condescension."

condescension: (noun) A communication that indicates lack of respect by patronizing the recipient.

Synonyms: disdain, patronage

Usage: Natasha did not like the visitor's tone of condescension to childish things.

Relevance to my life: In her interview with Katie Couric, the repugnant condescension in Governor Palin's disdainful comment, "Nooo, I worked all my life; in fact I've usually had two jobs..." when referencing some mythical scenario involving parents' giving their kids a passport and a backpack upon graduating and urging them to travel the world, struck me as incredibly offensive and testified further to how out of touch she is with who really makes up the country. If she sincerely believes that this is a large segment of the population, then she is far more rooted in willful ignorance than I had previously thought.*

What it is NOT: Condoleeza Rice's ESP -

"Why is everyone running aorund like crazy in the White House Situation Room?"

"Oh, that's just Condi sensing something."    rimshot

--->better:   "condensation:" (noun) any liquid that has condensed from a vapor, esp. on a window or glass -

The drops of condescension on my chilled Gin and Tonic rolled lazily down the glass and onto the coffee table, forming a ring on the wood because I'd been to lazy to hunt up a coaster. wrong


Example from literature: again, from Jane Austen - in Pride and Prejudice the idiotic Mr. Collins described the attitude of his patronizing patroness (Lady Catherine de Bourgh):

Mr. Collins was eloquent in her praise. The subject elevated him to more than the usual solemnity of manner, and with a most important aspect he protested that "he had never in his life witnessed such behavior in a person of rank - such affability and condescension, as he had himself experienced from Lady Catherine."

That cracks me up. Jane Austen's grip on irony was amazing and amusing. :)

*I was seriously pissed off and offended by Governor Palin's comment when asked why she hadn't gotten a passport until a year ago. Rather than giving a simple explanation, she immediately went offensive with it, and frankly, that was unnecessary and demonstrates what little class she possesses.

Yes, I traveled.  You bet your ass I did.

I got a master's degree in teaching English as a Foreign Language so I could travel extensively, if I wanted to, and pay my way doing it. I met lots of other ex-pats doing the same thing. None of us were from prep schools or rich families. There was nary a trust fund baby among us; neither were we all overprivileged liberal brats. We came from a wide range of political, social and economic backgrounds, but we all shared the desire to travel and experience other cultures and we found ways to afford it by working for it.

Governor Palin then went on to assert that the way she learned about the world and gained a global perspective was via education and books, a claim which she belies every time she opens her mouth. I have rarely seen a more provincial, close-minded asshole. The thought that she might actually be that close to so much political power chills me to the bone.


Ok. No more political-talk from me. I have to worry about blowing an aneurysm in my brain.