Obama's call for change impacts language on TV

He is calling for change, but US presidential candidate Barack Obama probably did not think his campaign's theme extended to the English language and US television culture.

"ObamaSpeak", encompassed by words such as "obamamentum," "obamabot," "obamacize," "obamarama" and "obamanation", has been the second-most-used catchphrase on US television this past year, topped only by No 1 word "Beijing" referencing the recent Olympics, according to a study from the Global Language Monitor released on Tuesday.

The Beijing Olympics in August also ushered in Phelpsian, the No 5 "teleword", coined to describe American swimmer Michael Phelps' feat of winning eight gold medals in a single Olympics, the Global Language Monitor said.

Phelps helped boost TV audiences for the Olympics to record figures, including the 31 million people who tuned in on Aug 16 to watch him clinch his 8th gold medal at the Beijing Games.

"This year, two events dominated television, the Beijing Olympics and the US presidential elections," said Paul Payack, president of the Texas-based Global Language Monitor which tracks the latest trends in word usage.

The survey measures words used starting in fall 2007 and running to late spring 2008, and is released just as the major broadcast networks are launching their 2008/2009 schedule.

Other popular words and phrases among the top telewords of 2008 were the cliche used frequently by sportsmen and women, "It is what it is" at No 3; "third screen" at No 6, as in watching TV on a mobile phone; and No 7 "vincible" applied to the upset of the seemingly invincible New England Patriots by the New York Giants in the 2008 Superbowl.

McCain lags in turmoil

Democrat Barack Obama has opened a 9-point lead over Republican John McCain in the US presidential race amid turmoil in the financial system and growing pessimism about the economy, according to a Washington Post-ABC News national opinion poll released yesterday.

Among likely voters, the poll found Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. Two weeks ago the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent.

The financial crisis brought on the collapse of the credit market has become the No 1 issue leading up to the Nov 4 presidential election.

Fifty-two percent of those polled said they believe the economy has moved into a serious long-term decline.

Eighty percent said they are concerned about the overall direction of the economy, nearly three-quarters worry about the shocks to the stock market, and six in 10 are apprehensive about their own family finances, the newspaper said.

Half of the respondents called the economy and jobs the single most important issue that will determine their vote, up from 37 percent two weeks ago.

The poll found Obama has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face, the Post said. The Illinois senator also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street.

Agencies

(China Daily 09/25/2008 page10)