"Sometimes you misunderestimated me." — George W. Bush, News Conference, 12 Jan. 2009
About the Word:
George W. Bush has attracted considerable scorn for his lapses with the English language. Perhaps none has been commented on so much as his portmanteau misunderestimate. A blend of misunderstand and underestimate, the word was occasionally used by Bush throughout his two terms as President; it saw considerably more use by people who employed it as evidence of Bush's lack of skill with language.
As with so many other words that supposedly originated with a specific person, misunderestimate had been bouncing around the English language for some time before Bush got around to using it. An article in The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1913 contains the line "Wall Street's most powerful lenders were made to suffer for misunderestimating the European situation." Numerous other examples can be found throughout the 20th century. These other uses notwithstanding, the word now seems destined to be forever linked with George W. Bush.
Definition:
: apparently to both misunderstand and underestimate
Photo credit: Wikimedia
