Some have observed that Palin isn't the first to invent the word refudiate. Patrick Galvin of Politico notes a couple of recent uses, such as Sen. Mike DeWine's statement on "Fox & Friends" in 2006: "I think anyone that is associated with him campaigning needs to refudiate these comments."Found at Language Log. I agree with this observation by "Otter" in the comments:
Even earlier is this glaring example [above] that I found in the Atlanta Constitution of June 21, 1925... the hurried headline writer must have mashed up refute with repudiate, just as Palin would 85 years later.
It's not Palin's grasp of English that interests me, it's her reaction to a mistake. That headline writer must have been embarrassed by the error, while Palin is proud of hers.
Like Bush, when she's wrong, she doubles down. That would be a worrying trait no matter how admirable her grammar.
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