From Wordnik:
Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition:
transitive v. To make maliciously or knowingly false statements about. See Synonyms at malign.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License:
To make hurtful untrue comments about (someone)

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
To utter calumny regarding; charge falsely and knowingly with some crime or offense, or something disreputable; slander.

Synonyms:  Defame, asperse, slander, scandalize, slur, vilify, smear, libel, malign

Etymologies:
-Latin calumniārī, calumniāt-, from calumnia, calumny; see calumny.(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
-From Latin calumniātus, perfect active participle of calumnior (“I accuse falsely”). (Wiktionary)

Happy Friday and welcome to Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku. Today’s word from Dictionary.com is “Columniate”. I had never heard this word before today, but I find it most useful in describing the activities of candidates in the current U.S. political climate.

There are all sorts of untrue, and bordering on slanderous, statements being tossed around by candidates and their campaigns to gain advantage over a rival.  And it is so easy to be swept up into the fear-based frenzy of twisted statements. While it is a good practice to follow the adage, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t”, in the political arena it seems a good idea to follow an opposite thought as well, “if it’s too awful or outrageous to believe…it is likely unbelievable.”

and now for a bit of a rant…
Sadly the average person cannot be bothered with checking sources for truthfulness of a particular claim. This is a fatal flaw in our political process, but also a tool well played by campaigns to gain the advantage over opponents. I am always interested to know how our politicking looks to people in other countries. If I am seeing an emperor with no clothes, I can only imagine what those removed by continents and oceans must think. And I want the world to know, not all of us are unthinking lemmings here.  Though sometimes it does feel as though the lemmings are growing in number…and they’re headed for the cliff’s edge!

Have a great weekend. Be kind to one another. No columniating allowed! 🙂

Calumniate – The Haikus

Inept candidates
Columniate their rivals
proving their own lack.

Calumniated
Disdained and disrespected 
She had the last laugh.

The incompetent
employ calumniation
to appear able.

kat ~ 12 February 2016