![\"\"](\"\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2010\/12\/bristol1-300x225.jpg\" "\\"bristol1\\"")
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Bristol Palin is, of course, the daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, as well as a recent contestant on Dancing with the Stars<\/i> and an abstinence advocate who is also mother to a almost-two-year-old.<\/p>\n
It is for this last apparent paradox<\/A> that MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann named Bristol Worst Person in the World<\/A> (well, at least the Worst Person in the World for November 29th).<\/p>\n But this blog isn’t about politics, it’s about vocabulary. Bristol shot back on Facebook:<\/p>\n “Accusing me of hypocrisy is by now, an old canard. What Mr. Olbermann lacks in originality he makes up for with insincere incredulity.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That’s a pretty good use of several GRE-worthy words (as well as alliteration)!<\/p>\n A canard<\/a> is “a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor,” often used in the expression “tired, old canard.”<\/p>\n Here, Bristol seems to be saying that pointing out that she is an abstinence advocate who, in the past, did not practice abstinence, is “played out.” She may be somewhat misusing the word, though, since certainly the mother of a small child cannot claim that the claim is “false or baseless.” The word canard<\/i> is correctly used to refer to false stories that just won’t die — for instance, the tired, old canard<\/i> that we only use 10% of our brains (and therefore this magic brain-enhancement program, spiritual movement, or pill will help you use the rest of it!)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2010\/12\/100903-bristol-costume-vmed.grid-4x2-198x300.jpg\" "\\"100903-bristol-costume-vmed.grid-4x2\\"")
Canard<\/i> is, literally, the French word for “duck” (the animal, not the verb). There seems to be some relationship with the English use of the word quack<\/a> to mean a con artist, a dishonest salesperson. One origin note for canard<\/em> offers: “from French: a duck, hoax, from Old French caner<\/em> to quack, of imitative origin.”<\/p>\n