what in the world?

The word of the moment seems to be "kerfuffle"...love the sound of it...sort of wacky and foreign and smart all at the same time.  But just why does it seem to be popping up all over the newspapers and tv all the time?  Or is it just me? 

I saw it again in the NY Times opinion section this morning...it seems to be a favorite of Frank Rich's. 

And I 'got' what it meant, just by inference.  But I decided to go to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online and look it up:

From the Scots 'caer', meaning awkward or wrong. 
And fuffle:  to become disheveled
It's British and means:  disturbance or fuss

Frank Rick refers to the Bush Administration's 'latest kerfuffle' in his column.

Yah, the Bush Administration...just pick the kerfuffle of the moment.

Yet I think what is going on in Washington deserves a stronger word.  Like scandal.

A kerfuffle is when my puppy drags my shoes around and hides them from me.  Or when my son Ross decides to spend the day at the card store, but then needs a ride home in middle of my dinner preparations. 

It seems to me a lying Attorney General/Vice President/President (take your pick) is NOT a kerfuffle.

What do YOU think?

Comments

[Bill]

It's amazing how hypocritical you can be about firings of attorneys and "lying" depending on who's doing the firing, and who's doing the firing.

When it's Clinton doing the firing (Bill or Hillary, it doesn't matter, they both did their share of political "cleansing", both in Wash.D.C. or Littlerock), you don't bat an eye .... "Oh how's the weather, Maude? Yes, I heard - Oh that silly Willie - he is SO cute. How in the world did Hilly end up with that hunk? Oh my, Monica was SO lucky ...".

They cleaned out the ENTIRE U.S. Attorney's staff you clowns! Because they wanted to! So face your hypocracy and get over the LONG overdue removal of 8 biased political hack appointees.

[Barbara]

I don't go by what the media tells me, but the words out of their own mouths, many of which are on tape and are shamefully inconsistent. The inconsistencies aren't the kind where people have simply learned more and changed their opinions, or had little slips of memory. They're the kind where someone reports his own actions in different ways at different times, to cover his wrong or illegal actions and intents, and that's how I tell a liar. They've been lying since before they were in office, and they're still lying to us, the people they work for.

Any ordinary employer who learned an employee lied so much about how he did his job would just fire his you-know-what. And if it was discovered that he'd broken a law on the job, maybe call in law enforcement as well to investigate and prosecute. So, perhaps we as the employers should . . .

We deserve the best, most trustworthy leaders possible. Unfortunately what I've noticed is that the best leader is usually reluctant to take on power, and isn't the kind of person who tends to run for office in our system and fight dirty enough, or have enough rich backers to win.

It's a very sad state of affairs.

[Rachy]

Oh, now, see, let this be a lesson to you.
I was going to leave it alone and had decided to just quietly click away by the time I had read to the middle of your post like I usually do, but then you added to the bottom, "What do you think?"
I don't agree. I think the media has sold out to pushing a liberal worldview and has failed to report the truth without bias, be it supportive or detractive of our president. I also believe this has had a direct effect on the quality of report we read, hence the use of words such as "kerfuffle." Basically, my english teacher would have told me to find a better way of saying what I meant.

[Marilyn]

It's way beyond kerfuffle to me, too...or even scandal. I prefer the more accurate "felony." ;)

[Stephanie]

I hope Frank Rich was being sarcastic in using "kerfuffle" to describe the White House antics! It's like calling the adminstration "a bunch of ninnies." Yep, they're ninnies all right, and more.

Hope Ross is having a relaxing spring break at home!

[Margaret]

Kerfuffle is a cute word, and what is happening right now in that administration is anything but!

[tinker]

All things considered, 'kerfuffle' does seem to be a rather mild way of describing it...