Comments on: Study proves Biden won debate by more than a full grade level

By: Scholars and Rogues » Lexical analysis of debates finds Obama and McCain startlingly similar

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:53:11 +0000

[...] colleague, Dr. Sidicious Bonesparkle, had a bit of sport last week with a Global Language Monitor analysis showing that Sarah Palin spoke at a higher grade level in [...]

By: angela

angela — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:54:04 +0000

Sodahead.com is filled with delusional McCain/Palin supporters who believe she “kicked Biden’s ass” during the debates.

By: Ann Ivins

Ann Ivins — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:56:33 +0000

And… Susan nails it.

By: Bobby McGill

Bobby McGill — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:09:50 +0000

I don’t understand what it is you said, but I think them debater people was real lucid. (Is that the right word? I got one of them thesaurses I found) I didn’t know the paper was six grade level. I feel impressive with myself after learning about that!

Bobby
http://idlewordship.com

By: Josh Catone

Josh Catone — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:08:08 +0000

The problem with this analysis is that 4,965 of Palin’s 5,235 were “Maverick” …

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:15:46 +0000

I agree that Biden won the debate on style—as well as substance!

One problem with the study cited is that it assigned higher grades to more passive, convoluted sentences. Haven’t these folks ever heard of The Elements of Style by Strunk and White?

The best way to use language is to clearly state what you mean to say—unless you have something to hide.

By: Lex

Lex — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:56:00 +0000

Da Oracle,

Yah der, sure, Wasilla is in a valley up der. But da valley girl culture revolved around goin to da mall and i’ll betcha dat Wasilla doesn’t have a mall. She represents a culture alright, but it ain’t dat one. I only say dis ’cause i know well da culture dat she represents, eh. I live in da closest thing to dat culture in da lower 48.

My informal poll of people who can’t help but talk like she does suggests that she was layin’ it on extra thick der. Even da most backwoods among us don’t really talk like dat. And i’m talkin’ about a place where da stripclub offers tick checks instead of lap dances.

By: Brian Angliss

Brian Angliss — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:30:52 +0000

For those of you who enjoy (or even just get) the “Cthulhu ‘08 – why settle for a lesser evil?” bumperstickers, check out this web comic.

Don’t forget to look closely at the shuggoth….

By: techwreck

techwreck — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:52:59 +0000

Who is that woman in the picture?

Who is “Bonesparkle”?

Why should we care?

By: The Oracle

The Oracle — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:05:53 +0000

I say that Biden and Palin should hold another debate, but this time one with a spelling bee format, with words getting progressively harder, until we find out at what spelling level they both are. This should settle things.

As far as Palin, I believe she nailed her Valley Girl persona perfectly. Sassy. Perky.You betcha. Fer shure. Clueless. (Hey, Wasilla’s in an Alaskan valley, isn’t it? I rest my case.)

By: Lex

Lex — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:24:33 +0000

I like that the picture is not Sarah Palin. I like pictures. Words are hard. Easy is fun. What’s passive voice? Beer and TV time.

By: Dr. Slammy

Dr. Slammy — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:53:35 +0000

Phil: I’m afraid that’s something we have to consider, yes.

By the way, what percentage of 9th graders can speak at the 9th grade level?

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:49:28 +0000

Since Palin used more of a passive voice, which the service says deflects responsibility, it suggests she was considerably more evasive. However, the CNN article that originally reported this seemed biased because the headline will be interpreted by most that Palin is smarter than Biden because here sentences are more complex. However, since she was speaking to “Joe Six-Pack” it’s unclear whether she connected with that audience because as you wrote, some tend to relate to people they can’t understand. So those other Joe’s may be thinking “gosh darn, I couldn’t understand a word she said, but she’ll get my vote cuz sure sounded smart!”.

So does this mean Sarah Palin is more “elitist”?

By: Gindy

Gindy — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:36:39 +0000

Biden can easily speak at a more advanced level and Palin was almost over hers. In fact most of the things she said were easily identified as memorized talking points. She spoke from internal note cards where as Biden spoke from his brain.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:19:21 +0000

Of course they spoke at an eighth/ninth grade level. None of the candidates used any words from their vocabulary tests, like “pleonasm” or “uxorious”. Using those words (even using them wrong) would probably cause part of the electorate’s heads to explode.

By: Bonesparkle

Bonesparkle — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:42:06 +0000

Jim,

You seem a little uppity yourself this morning.

By: Jim Booth

Jim Booth — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:31:54 +0000

Bonesparkle,

Tell me about the reading scale used. The one’s I’m familiar with use a 100 point scale, with 100 being the most difficult to read and comprehend. IRS pamphlets, usually the most complex documents used as measurement standards on this scale, come in at the mid 80’s -low 90’s.

Oh, and explain to me if you will how not debating, just chirping talking points gives one credibility with anyone – except too many American voters who feel comfortable with someone at the helm who is as clueless as they. (Excuse my excellent grammar here.)