Product Details
Touchstone, June 2008
Trade Paperback, 128 pages
ISBN-10: 1416596496
ISBN-13: 9781416596493
Foreword
On a Tuesday night in Boston, in July 2004, Barack Obama took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to introduce himself to America. At the top of the agenda: that funny assemblage of b's and a's that he called a name.
His parents, he said, "would give me an African name, Barack, or 'blessed,' believing that in a tolerant America, your name is no barrier to success."
Looking back, it's safe to say that Barack Obama's name has been anything but a barrier in his bid for the presidency of the United States of America. Quite the opposite. The brightest minds of Madison Avenue would be hard-pressed to gin up a better brand name for Obama's narrative of the bounty of America's melting pot. Even his middle name, Hussein, once shorthand for evil incarnate in the Bush administration's quixotic forays into war, has found a place in his message of reconciliation to move beyond the tired politics of xenophobia. Through no particular effort of his own, Barack Obama's name began its offensive on the American lexicon.
The name Barack Obama is also, incidentally, a gift from above for those of us who doodle anagrams on our lunch breaks. It is almost 50 percent vowels -- bad for anagrams, actually, but perfect for arranged marriages with other words that describe his improbable candidacy. The English language, arguably Obama's greatest weapon in his bid for the presidency, is ripe for Obamafication.
In that spirit, Slate presents Obamamania!, more than one hundred words that have been retrofitted with Obama's moniker to create a new vocabulary for this unusual campaign. Some of them you have no doubt heard before, from Obamenon to Barackstar. Others, we would wager, are new to this volume. Try deus ex Barachina on for size, and don't forget to taste our chef's special, the Baratwurst.
This book began as an idle e-mail discussion among Slate writers who had noticed more and more Obamaisms cropping up in this campaign. Once we realized that there were so many possibilities, we compiled the best of them into a feature on Slate and invited readers to submit their own words and definitions. Great words continue to roll in daily. The definitions in this book are a combination of our original offerings and these submissions, many of which have not previously been published.
We hope readers find these words and definitions entertaining. There are, after all, worse ways in this interminable election to keep yourself Barackupied.
Copyright © 2008 Slate