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My friend and grad school adviser Stanley Fish sent shock waves through the blogosphere when he praised Sarah Palin's book. "I wouldn't count myself a fan in the sense of being a supporter," he wrote in a review, still "I found it compelling and very well done." Given the howls of objections that Fish received, I feel some trepidation in weighing in on the current flap over Palin's use of the word "refudiate" in a recent tweet.

The former Alaska governor wrote: "Ground Zero Mosque supporters, doesn't it stab you in the heart as it does our throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, please refudiate." Critics quickly recognized that Palin had garbled the words "refute" and "repudiate" to create a new word: "refudiate." And in her defense Palin then tweeted: "English is...