It seems we have a new trend with the Presidential election: the introduction of a new word into our vocabulary. In the previous election, you couldn't turn on the TV without hearing someone talk about those pesky chads. In case you've forgotten, chads are the tiny little squares of paper that popped out on the punch-out election ballots. To be more specific, we all became familiar with hanging chads. It didn't take long before we came up with the current buzz word from the 2008 election: vetting.
Webster's Dictionary defines vetting as "subjecting to usually expert appraisal or correction", as in vetting a manuscript; in the political sense, to vet also means "to evaluate for possible approval or acceptance", as in vetting the candidate for a position; more specifically as in vetting Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. They mentioned vetting so many times during the nightly news last night that I lost count. Up until this week, vetting is a word that maybe you would have only heard a college professor use when talking to a graduate program research student. Now we hear it non-stop during the nightly news and during the Republican National Convention.
I'd venture to guess that the majority of Americans are unfamiliar with the term "vetting." The only reason I was familiar with the word was because when I was a graduate student, one of my favorite professors asked me to help her with some research papers she was grading, and asked me to vet them. I'm sure I looked at her like she had three heads. She simply explained that I needed to look up some of the cited references they used to make sure the info was accurate and not plagurized. So that's what vetting meant. I just wonder what the election buzz word of 2012 will be. I can hardly wait.
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