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The Spectacle Blog
Checking out the redesigned New Republic today, I came across this bizarre sentence in an essay by Michael Kinsley:
At this point, before he remarried, [Edward] Kennedy’s dual reputation for girth and senatorial statesmanship had not yet overcome his reputation as a party boy.
What does “girth” mean in this context? I honestly have no idea. I just checked Chambers (no OED unfortunately), and have found these two nouns*:
- “the distance round something such as a tree or a person’s waist”
- “the strap round a horse’s belly that holds a saddle in place.”
So Kennedy had a reputation for being in possession of a (presumably large) waist? This has got to be the most circumspect way of calling someone fat I’ve ever run across in (pseudo) print.
As for “senatorial statesmanship,” I’m thinking this is just some kind of lazy attempt at “style”: alliteration and all that. But since senator was the only office Kennedy ever held, his “reputation” as a statesman could never been anything but “senatorial,” making “senatorial statesmanship” a tautology to boot.
* Urban Dictionary (to which I shall refrain from linking) tells me that there are, ahem, other definitions as well…
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More Blog Posts by Matthew Walther
http://spectator.org/blog/2013/01/29/ted-kennedys-girth
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Robert WB| 1.29.13 @ 8:24PM
After Senator Kennedy tried to destroy The Boston Herald using legislation that would prevent its owner, Rupert Murdoch, from simultaneously owning both a newspaper and a TV station in the same area, Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr memorably responded with a column that began, "Was it something I said, Fat Boy?" Carr had used this nickname for Kennedy on many previous occasions, and Kinsley presumably had it in mind.
spike59| 1.30.13 @ 5:27AM
Howie Carr is a hoot and a half; is he the gentleman who coined the nickname 'Mumbles Menino' for the idiot currently infesting the Mayor's office in Boston?
Bob Grant| 1.29.13 @ 10:37PM
"Tuna Can" Teddy was a real statesman.
Yep, indeed.
I especially like how he conspired with the Soviet Union to use the American Media against President Reagan.
Mnestheus| 1.30.13 @ 12:50AM
George Will's imploding hat size is more worrying than the waistline of the last skeleton in Teddy's closet.
spike59| 1.30.13 @ 5:28AM
as soon as the Libtards wake up, expect outraged howls over any insult to the cherished memory of the "Lyin' in the Senate"
Ralph Gizzip| 1.30.13 @ 6:54AM
Sadly, Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment.
LarryK| 1.30.13 @ 8:29AM
I fulfilled my life long dream to ******* on Ted Kennedy's grave.