Masticate (pronounced mas-ti-keyt)
(1) To chew (usually food).
(2) To reduce materials (such as rubber) to a pulp by crushing or kneading.
1640–1650: A back-formation of the earlier mastication, from
the Late Latin masticātus, past
participle of masticāre (to chew), from
the past participle stem of the post-Classical Latin masticō (I chew), from the Ancient Greek μαστιχάω (mastikháō) (I gnash the teeth”).
Thespian Lindsay Lohan with cheeseburger, masticating.
Masticate and masticating are verbs, masticable and
masticated are adjectives, masticatory, masticator & mastication are nouns. All forms tend now to
be seen in specialised niches, masticatory almost always in medical or
scientific literature and seems to be a favorite in entymology. Other than for technical purposes, masticate’s
most obvious niche is in humor, the effect achieved by using the word in a way
easily confused with the almost homophonic masturbate, a device used also with the thespian/lesbian homophone. Usually then, the monosyllabic "chew" is better.
The purported fallacy
The purported fallacy is a rhetorical device intended to
confuse or suggest irrelevant considerations into the mind of the listener? It’s related to but distinct from the “red
herring”. A well-known example is often
quoted but is unfortunately a myth, fake news in its time but still refusing to
die. In the Florida primary contest for
the Democratic nomination in the 1950 Senate campaign, Claude Pepper (1900–1989;
Democrat Senator for Florida 1936-1951, Democrat member of House of
Representatives (Florida 1963-1989)) lost to George Smathers (1913–2007;
Democrat member of House of Representatives (Florida) 1947-1951 and Democrat
Senator for Florida 1951-1969). Smathers
had managed Pepper's successful 1938 campaign and the association continued, Pepper
pulling strings so Smathers could avoid military service during WWII and
helping him become an assistant attorney-general.
The 1950 Senate election in Florida was noted for flamboyant
oratory, ideological ferocity and personal dramas but that was neither novel
nor unique to Florida. Smathers labeled
his opponent “Red” Pepper which, if unfair, was funny and, in the early cold war,
not an unusual tactic, Senator Joe McCarthy (1908–1957; Republican Senator for
Wisconsin 1947-1957) that year having delivered his inflammatory Lincoln Day
speech in which he claimed to have list of known communists employed by the State
Department. However, what arose during
the campaign was the legend that Smathers, assuming low education and high prejudice
in the minds of some voters, had made speeches in rural areas accusing his
opponent of being “a shameless extrovert”, having “a sister who was once a
thespian in wicked New York”, having "practiced celibacy before his marriage" and being someone “who had been seen masticating fish”.
Irresistibly good copy, the words appeared in the 17
April issue of Time magazine and despite cautioning they were “of doubtful
authenticity” they’ve for decades been recycled, used for illustrative effect
for this and that across the political spectrum; Robert Sherrill on the left
and William F Buckley on the right, both claiming it happened. The truth, which Buckley later acknowledged, was the words turned out to be the work of journalists covering the campaign who, over
drinks, began inventing double-talk quotations and swapping them. It became a contest to see who could write
the funniest and some of them leaked, published as fact.
After decades of estrangement, a Pepper fund-raising
letter ended up in Smathers' office. Smathers
responded with a contribution and Pepper, after joking that the cheque bounced,
sent a note of thanks. Smathers said he
would contribute to Pepper as long as he was in the Congress as a champion of
the elderly, adding he was now “old enough to where I kind of feel like he may
speak for me''.
Satirists work in a similar vein to those tipsy reporters. In 2006, in a parody of the attack ads the
Liberal Party was using against Stephen Harper’s (b 1959; prime minister of
Canada 2006-2015) Conservative government, NPR offered:
Stephen Harper has plans for
Canada, scary plans. Scary, evil plans. We can't make this up, we're not allowed to.
Stephen Harper owns a dragon. He keeps
it in a shed. Seriously. Stephen Harper
drinks his own blood. We saw him. We're not
allowed to make this up. The liberal
party, let's see how badly we can lose this thing.
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