Althouse: Debbie Wasserman Schultz stumbles into the people-who-read-too-much mispronunciation of "misled."

November 5, 2013

Debbie Wasserman Schultz stumbles into the people-who-read-too-much mispronunciation of "misled."

Watch for it: myzzled.

57 comments:

rhhardin said...: Myseld.; 11/5/13, 5:42 PM
madAsHell said...: Was she reading from a tele-prompter??

It's like Obama reading corpsman, and pronouncing the s.; 11/5/13, 5:45 PM
Unknown said...: She didn't say misled, because she cannot say misled because that would require her to tell the truth. That truth, barry lied, she and her cohorts lied, and the mfm lied and covered up this assault on the public. To this day they continue to lie, every single one of them. Tar and feathers would be too kind to these despicable curs.; 11/5/13, 5:47 PM
rhhardin said...: ...in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow, period.; 11/5/13, 5:54 PM
Blue Ox said...: She was on her way to using the word "lie" and tried instead to soften the term to "misled".

She ended up conflating the two.; 11/5/13, 5:54 PM
Diamondhead said...: When I was a kid I read the word as "myzled." I still feel like the pronunciation is somehow...evocative of the definition.; 11/5/13, 6:07 PM
Diogenes of Sinope said...: Debbie Wasserman Schultz's opinions are not worth a bucket of warm spit.; 11/5/13, 6:12 PM
rhhardin said...: Who, after all, can read Penelope correctly.

The magic e makes the vowel say its own name.; 11/5/13, 6:12 PM
Moose said...: So, make the plans offer things that aren't in the current plans - thus forcing them to cancel the coverage. It's not the ACA's fault, nor Obama's. It's a clever strategy, and one that most likely will be lost on the public at large.; 11/5/13, 6:12 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Experts agree, what the American people have really needed for a long time is a good myzzeling. Finally they got one. They got the heck myzzeled out them and they are a better people for it.
And now is not the time to stop myzzeling them. Far from it. Instead, myzzel them again and again. Then, myzzel them about the myzzling.
You can never over-myzzel, so don't worry about that.; 11/5/13, 6:25 PM
Marty Keller said...: I am curious about the mass lunacy of the voters of Florida's 23d district who keep voting this shallow, robotic partisan hack back to Washington as their representative. Is it to keep her out of Broward County?; 11/5/13, 6:28 PM
avwh said...: What a hack and an idiot - THIS is a spokesperson for the Dem party??; 11/5/13, 6:38 PM
VietPundit said...: "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

It depends on what the meaning of the word "like" is. And "plan". And "can". And "keep".

https://www.google.com/#q=it+depends+on+what+the+meaning+of+the+word+%27is%27+is; 11/5/13, 6:48 PM
Marty Keller said...: @Bob Boyd: Hope my lovely Fabian Obamacare health plan covers getting my ribs fixed after reading your gosh-darned right-on observations. I'm sure even Inka will agree.; 11/5/13, 6:58 PM
james said...: I am one of those people. I said "myzeld" until my wife gave me a funny look and asked me to spell it. When she straightened me out it was very clear that there was only one word there, not miss-led and also myzeld.; 11/5/13, 7:05 PM
james said...: I am one of those people. I said "myzeld" until my wife gave me a funny look and asked me to spell it. When she straightened me out it was very clear that there was only one word there, not miss-led and also myzeld.; 11/5/13, 7:05 PM
heyboom said...: Self awareness isn't her strong suit when she claims that Marco Rubio has "no credibility" on this issue.; 11/5/13, 7:08 PM
cubanbob said...: I am curious about the mass lunacy of the voters of Florida's 23d district who keep voting this shallow, robotic partisan hack back to Washington as their representative. Is it to keep her out of Broward County?"

If only. No they are a bunch of North Eastern schmucks who left the north for better climate and no state income taxes but still vote like they were up north. They are incapable of realizing why they left the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. Unfortunately she is my congress critter. My precinct is so blue that all of the known Republicans can fit in a phone booth if they still existed.; 11/5/13, 7:34 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @cubanbob,

Wasserman-Schultz as a representative I can kinda understand. Alan Grayson, on the other hand. My God, what sort of lunatics would send Alan Grayson back to Congress? Pick a wino sleeping on a park bench at 2AM & send him to Congress & he'd be saner than Grayson!

What the fuck is that all about?; 11/5/13, 8:00 PM
Amy said...: That was an unbelievable clip. Myzzled? MYZZLED? I mean - the interviewer just used the word several times in the question - how can she not know how to say it?

I know there are words that you never hear out loud and therefore mispronounce in your head, or when you first say them. As a child, reading the Archie comics, I always thought the black haired nemesis was named Reg-gie (hard 'g'), and was shocked to learn it was Reggie (soft 'g'). But no one ever said it out loud - we were too busy talking about who Archie liked better, Betty or Veronica.

BUT the MSNBC anchor JUST SAID 'misled' repeatedly in the question. This has me totally baffled. Or maybe it is 'baff-led.'; 11/5/13, 8:02 PM
Bob Ellison said...: She's not smart.; 11/5/13, 8:03 PM
n.n said...: I heard "video" and something about former allies who are now disgruntled terrorists.; 11/5/13, 8:09 PM
Hagar said...: Blabbermouth Schultz may be "cute" and have "a nice smile," but she is also quite bonkers.; 11/5/13, 8:13 PM
Ctmom4 said...: Do you really think Debbie reads too much? Seriously?; 11/5/13, 8:14 PM
Bob Boyd said...: She myzpock.; 11/5/13, 8:14 PM
JoyD said...: That is JUST so embarrassing! Though I'm sure she waves it off with aplomb. (Silent B, Deb); 11/5/13, 8:18 PM
Marty Keller said...: Do you really think Debbie reads too much? Seriously?

Whether DWS reads too much it's highly unlikely that she does so "seriously"--unless, of course, it's the orders of the day from Axelrod.; 11/5/13, 8:22 PM
Wince said...: Mizeled tov!; 11/5/13, 8:29 PM
Lyle said...: rhhardin,

I've totally misread Penelope. I'm an idiot.; 11/5/13, 8:47 PM
CatherineM said...: God, they all say the same thing. Its the insurance companies fault...and it does not matter anyway because if these dumb people would just go on the non-working, unsecure website and "shop around" they will find better plans

Trust me!; 11/5/13, 8:48 PM
cubanbob said...: Wasserman-Schultz as a representative I can kinda understand. Alan Grayson, on the other hand. My God, what sort of lunatics would send Alan Grayson back to Congress? Pick a wino sleeping on a park bench at 2AM & send him to Congress & he'd be saner than Grayson!"

Hegelian Florida is full of morons from the north. Grayson is an interesting character to put it mildly. He is a centimillionaire who clowns around like a Communist. Uber prog hypocrite. His district was gerrymandered by the Republicans to shoe horn in all the Libs in that part of the state. Which is basically the same as DWS's district-carved the Republicans out to make safe seats for the Democrats so the Republican's can have theirs. Still as crazy as the electorate are in those districts there hasn't been any real traction even in those districts for a state income tax.; 11/5/13, 8:59 PM
Jay Vogt said...: Look, I know this is low-hanging fruit, but this is just a perfect example of why I don't watch TV news or comment programming anymore. I haven't seen any of them live for a few years, but if memory serves, the Sunday shows are the worst.
In this clip you actually have to work to avoid becoming dumber than you were before you saw it.
First of all, the newswoman takes three quarters of minute to ask a stupid, vague non sequitur of a question, "Did the President knowingly oversimplify this . . . ".
Previously she had introduced Sen. Rubio's comments as "slamming the president", when almost any other verb would do better (e.g. questioned, asserted, noted, accused, pondered).
Then, she doesn't even really want Rep. Wasserman-Shultz to reply to the relevant assertion of Sen. Rubio; that being that President Obama knew there would be forced conversions from plans when he asserted that there would not be. It's not a matter of "oversimplifying" and that's not what Sen. Rubio was suggesting, or in fact stating quite plainly.
Then Rep. W-S starts to laugh in apparent contempt at the mere mention of his name. I just cannot understand why someone would think that an effective technique to advance one's cause. It's middle school and it is immediately and durably off-putting to every adult.
Her argument then is that, "he has no credibility . . . so . . . mostly people discount what he has to say". Well, I guess that's somewhat interesting, but only if you don't know the definition of "credibility". In which case, it's really helpful. However if you do know the definition of "credibility" and you're talking about health care policy, it is completely useless.
And this is all before the Congresswoman gets to tangling her mind and tongue around the words ” lied” and “misled”.
And I'm not sure what's going on in her head, but I'm damn sure that it is not the result of reading the word "misled" too much and not hearing it said aloud enough.
You cannot be a multi-term congressperson and not have heard that word in context over a thousand times.
Anyway, I only got though the first half of that clip. I'm getting stupider fast enough already. I don't need to accelerate my decline.; 11/5/13, 9:25 PM
Scott M said...: PUNDITS??? HAVE TELEPROMPTERS??????; 11/5/13, 9:37 PM
The Godfather said...: I lived in south Florida for six years, so I won't claim to be an expert, but I do have some understanding of the culture. I am not surprised that DWS keeps getting re-elected.

But the national Democratic Party didn't have to choose her to chair their National Committee. Like Obama's choice of Joe Biden to be Vice President, this shows the contempt that the Democratic Party leadership feels toward the American people.

And so far, the American people have shown that the contempt is well earned.; 11/5/13, 9:41 PM
The Godfather said...: I lived in south Florida for six years, so I won't claim to be an expert, but I do have some understanding of the culture. I am not surprised that DWS keeps getting re-elected.

But the national Democratic Party didn't have to choose her to chair their National Committee. Like Obama's choice of Joe Biden to be Vice President, this shows the contempt that the Democratic Party leadership feels toward the American people.

And so far, the American people have shown that the contempt is well earned.; 11/5/13, 9:45 PM
Anonymous said...: Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Joe Biden myzzled me into Anal.; 11/5/13, 9:49 PM
Limited Blogger said...: You say tomato and I say tomahto ...
I say he mis-lead and she says he my-zeld.
Tomato, tomahto, mislead or mizled ...
Let's call the whole thing off.; 11/5/13, 10:51 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Is "reads too much" a new euphemism for "uneducated"?; 11/5/13, 11:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Obama didn't mislead anyone.

Let's do a thought experiment.

Suppose a man is getting married, and he stands up before his friends, his family, and his fiance and he says, "I promise to love, honor and cherish you, until death do us part."

Then, a few years later, his wife catches him cheating with a really pretty stripper. A sexy, hot, stripper.

All he would have to say to his wife would be, "What I meant was, I promise to love, honor and cherish you, until death do us part, if I don't find any hot strippers."

See? He should have clarified, sure. But misled his bride to be? No no no....

Misspoke.; 11/6/13, 1:49 AM
PB said...: I've never heard that as a pronunciation of the word. Either she just got tongue-tied (which happens) or it was a direct mispronunciation so that it would make it harder for her usage of the word to be found (speech to text software would never associate those sounds with the word misled).; 11/6/13, 6:52 AM
Molly said...: What a maroon.; 11/6/13, 6:54 AM
MayBee said...: How embarrassing.

And what an excuse! Surely she's heard the word "mislead" before. Did she think mizelled is some fancy, show-offy word only she is smart enough to speak aloud?

How does she not get the Sarah Palin treatment?; 11/6/13, 7:51 AM
Herb said...: does msnbc provide their regular visitors with a tele prompter? That sure did look like she was reading it wrong.; 11/6/13, 8:16 AM
Armed Texan said...: Did anyone notice that the talking points are now "only 3% will lose coverage," down from 5% only a day ago?; 11/6/13, 8:23 AM
Scott M said...: Did anyone notice that the talking points are now "only 3% will lose coverage," down from 5% only a day ago?.

Tech surge. The day before, "5" was the lowest number on the keyboard that they could get to work.; 11/6/13, 8:27 AM
DarkHelmet said...: Bogart: I came to Casablanca for the waters.

Raines: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.

Bogart: I was myzeld.; 11/6/13, 8:28 AM
Murray T said...: It seems that she was reading her response from a teleprompter, indicating that she knew what question that she would be asked in advance. If you are reading "misled", it would be very easy to pronounce it as she did; 11/6/13, 9:27 AM
Murray T said...: It seems that she was reading her response from a teleprompter, indicating that she knew what question that she would be asked in advance. If you are reading "misled", it would be very easy to pronounce it as she did; 11/6/13, 9:28 AM
jaed said...: This isn't a read-too-much mistake.

Reading too much is what causes people to mispronounce a word whose meaning they know but which they've never heard spoken. Words like that are typically foreign-language borrowings, which don't follow ordinary English orthographic rules. "Epitome" would be a classic example; there are a lot of people who know what the word means but think it has three syllables because they've only read it, never heard it pronounced, and it looks like it should have three. Paul Fussell once mentioned some talking head who consistently pronounced "promiscuity" as "pro-MISS-kitty". (While being interviewed by William Buckley, at that. How embarrassing.)

"Misled" isn't this type of word, however, because knowing its meaning lets you break the word down into its component parts: "mis-led", led somewhere you didn't want to go. If you know what the word means, you can pronounce it. This is not the sort of word that you mispronounce because you've read it and never heard it, but know what it means.

So no, Wasserman-Schultz is not simply a misunderstood intellectual who "reads too much" to be able to pronounce words correctly. For shame, Althouse!

(On the other hand, it's a basic enough word - especially for politicians - that I have trouble believing she doesn't know how to say it. Teleprompter brainlock is my explanation, in light of her delivery.); 11/6/13, 9:40 AM
MPH said...: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mizzled

1. Mizzled
Mizzled is when somebody deliberately misleads or dupes you with malicious intent. You can be "misled" by bad directions but your cheater boyfriend "mizzled" you into thinking your relationship was great when in fact he was engaged to someone else. This is an important distinction, because often you start out thinking you were misled, only to find out later, you were MIZZLED!; 11/6/13, 10:28 AM
Ken Green said...: Okay, so I find DWS to be as disgusting a human being as I've ever seen - I have never, ever heard her speak without feeling a deep revulsion at her utter disregard for truth, her endless character assassination, and basically, her venomous tongue.

That said, as someone who does a fair bit of public speaking, I have to say that a slip of the tongue is just that, a slip of the tongue. I'm sure she knows that the word is "misled" rather than "myzled," but sometimes, a wrong word or pronunciation just comes out.

If you were to scrutinize any public figure who speaks on camera dozens, or hundreds of times each week, you'll find some slip of the tongue to poke fun at. It's the nature of the beast.; 11/6/13, 11:03 AM
TOF said...: Maybe myzzled is Yiddish for misled.; 11/6/13, 11:40 AM
Deborah M. said...: I'm going to change my name.; 11/6/13, 11:53 AM
Nate Whilk said...: VietPundit said... ' "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

'It depends on what the meaning of the word "like" is. And "plan". And "can". And "keep".'

And "you" and "your".; 11/6/13, 2:14 PM
Ron Coleman said...: "Reggie" is with a soft "g"?; 11/6/13, 3:40 PM
Jake said...: @Eric

Misspoke?

Was that the stripper?; 11/6/13, 10:30 PM
James said...: This is not a word an adult doesn't know how to say. This is a mistake someone makes when reading a teleprompter.
She even made an initial mistake, reading it without the "s".

She knew the questions in advance and printed her response to a teleprompter.; 11/7/13, 5:40 PM