Barack Obama Is Aware Of Lipstick And Its Use On Sows

So in case you missed it, there’s been a big to do lately about Barack Obama’s use of the phrase “you can put lipstick on a pig and it’s still a pig” when referring to the policies of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Now, did Obama mean for this to be about Palin, using code words to speak negatively of her without coming right out and saying it (see “uppity“)?  The Obama campaign and many Democrats have been using the term “lipstick” when speaking of Palin over the weekend and days leading up to Obama’s utterance.

Or is Barack Obama a victim of spin?  Certainly possible.  It’s easy to take something someone says, something fairly innocent, and turn it into an insult and feign disgust with much success (George Allen and Macaca come to mind, though certainly under different circumstances).

Or are we seeing a problem in regional dialects meaning different things to different people (again, see “uppity“)??

Ask around.  Talk to folks from all over.  Particularly in the northwest or northeast, areas that aren’t too familiar with the rural and it’s slang.  See if they’ve heard the phrase before.  If you get results like mine you’ll find they’d never heard the phrase before.  You’ll find they immedeately associate the phrase with the woman involved in the context, even if she wasn’t named.  Even if the origin of the phrase had nothing to do with women.

The dangers and joy of the English language.

UPDATE: Straight from the horse’s mouth (and, no, I am not literally trying to call Obama a “horse”):

“This is sort of silly season in politics, not that there’s a non-silly season, but it gets sillier,” Obama said. “And it’s a common expression in at least Illinois. I don’t know about New York City. I don’t know what you put lipstick on here.”