At the end of the Texas Gubernatorial Debate, held last Friday in Dallas, the candidates made their one-minute closing remarks.
In the past, I have not paid much attention to Governor Rick Perry. But Perry's tongued-tied attempt to criticize his main opponent, Democrat Chris Bell, made me rewind my TiVo twice to make sure I heard him correctly.
Here is what Governor Perry said:
"You have a clear choice in this campaign... Whether you want to have a vigilant security of our border, or the
benign galect of, uh, of, uh, uh Congressman Bell and his former colleagues in in Washington, DC."
I think Perry meant "neglect."
Maybe this lack of verbal acuity resonates with rural Texas voters who talk more to cattle and Mexican ranch hands than college graduates. Recall that former Lt. Governor Perry inherited his governorship from another well-known language mangler: former Governor George W. Bush.
Personally, I have not heard the term "galect" for many years. As a boy, my four-year-old sister and I played a game in which I gave her a message to relay to our parents. When I told her that a fictional character had died of neglect, she ran to our parents and exclaimed, "Shaun said he died of 'galect.'"
At the time, coming from a small child, it was pretty funny. Our family laughed about it from time to time. Today, coming from Texas's governor... not so much.
Remember not to galect to put food on your family.
View the entire debate here:
http://www.kvue.com/...