Speaking "Austrian"...

...is like speaking "Californian."

President Obama explains how he doesn't know the word for "wheeling and dealing" in "Austrian."

Most people think that the language spoken in Austrian is commonly known as "German."

To be fair, everyone has these kinds of moments, but after years of jumping on every purported malapropism of Bush, Palin and Quayle as evidence of their "stupidity" it would be hypocritical not to apply the same standard to these Obominitions.

Even left-wing European newspapers are taking shots at Obama muddled communication style

The Guardian notes:

Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Normally word perfect, Obama ummed, ahed and waffled for the best part of two and a half minutes. Here, John Crace decodes what he was really thinking ...

Nick Robinson: "A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right? And isn't the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?" Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking [THANKS FOR NOTHING, GORDY BABY. REMIND ME TO HANG YOU OUT TO DRY ONE DAY.] Barack Obama: "I, I, would say that, er ... pause [I HAVEN'T A CLUE] ... if you look at ... pause [WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] ... the, the sources of this crisis ... pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] ... the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . . pause [I'M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] ... a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system ... pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP]. I think what is also true is that ... pause [I WANT NICK ROBINSON TO DISAPPEAR] ... here in Great Britain ... pause [SHIT, GORDY'S THE HOST, DON'T LAND HIM IN IT] ... here in continental Europe ... pause [DAMN IT, BLAME EVERYONE.] ... around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er ... pause [I'VE LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AGAIN] ... the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged ... pause [I'M REALLY WINGING IT NOW]. So at this point, I'm less interested in ... pause [YOU] ... identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er ... pause [WHY DIDN'T I QUIT WHILE I WAS AHEAD?] ... drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think ... pause [FANTASTIC. I'VE LOST EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF] ... there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er ... pause [I'M OUTTA HERE. TIME FOR THE USUAL CLOSING BOLLOCKS] ... I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

Isn't anyone prepping Obama for questions?

Needless to say, if Bush had performed like that, we wouldn't have heard the end of it. But, then, Bush had an MBA and had practical experience in running a business and being an executive before he became president and so actually could fall back on substance in a pinch.

What were Obama's grade in college and law school, again?

Obama Language Watch

Obama on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial mentioned the "enormity of the challenges facing us."

Alrighty then, "enormity" means "The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness." He probably meant "enormousness" or "size."

People make language mistakes, but given the merciless focus on Bush's syntaxical problems, let's keep that in mind for the next time we hear about some Republican mangling the language.

Update: On the other hand, there is this from this Telegraph op-ed on the imminent collapse of the British economy:

Yesterday marked a new low for all involved, even by the standards of this crisis. Britons woke to news of the enormity of the fresh horrors in store. Despite all the sophistry and outdated boom-era terminology from experts, I think a far greater number of people than is imagined grasp at root what is happening here.

This usage may be proper under all meanings of the word, inasmuch as "horrors" can be "morally wicked", albeit it seems strange to be ascribing a moral status to economic events in anything but the most extended metaphorical sense. It's like describing the enormity of a really big hurricane.

I still think that is a non-preferred use of the word, which is normally used to suggest corruption or evil. The better word for a "really big thing that is not subject to moral blame" is "size" or "enormousness" but I suspect that people who use "enormity" aren't aware of its overtone of judgment and think that using words like "size" or, in particular, "enormousness" is unsophisticated.

I'm not alone update: Apparently, a discussion is going on at the Corner about how Obama should learn the meaning of the word "enormity":

I was talking to my friend and NR colleague Kevin Williamson yesterday, and he said, “You know, I wish the president-elect would learn the meaning of the word ‘enormity.’” He keeps saying things like, “I recognize the enormity of what I’m about to undertake.” Kevin quipped, “We may consider the upcoming administration an enormity, but . . .”

It sounds like Obama is using "enormity" because of faux-sophistication.

Of course, if Bush had done something like that, we would never have heard the end of it.