Sum up Geraldo in 4 letters.... get on the radio!

[flowomo]

Jim Romanesko received this letter:

From PETER SAGAL, host, "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me": For once, I find myself in agreement with Geraldo Rivera. He expresses confusion in regard to the New York Times Public Editor Byron Calame's dig at him, "One of the real tests of journalistic integrity is being fair to someone who might best be described by a four-letter word."

"What four letter word did he have in mind?" asks Geraldo.

That's what I wondered, too, when I read the item. There are a lot of commonly used epithets that come to mind when describing Mr. Rivera, and some of them have four letters, and some of them are sufficiently obscene to require euphemizing, but I couldn't think of any that were both four letters and dirty. Seven letters, sure. Twelve letters -- a little extreme, but I can see it.

There is the common scatalogical noun, but used by itself, as metonymy for a person, it seems vague and insufficient when describing someone of Geraldo's grandeur.

There's the Yiddish putz, which fits the subject -- particularly considering his background -- but it strikes me as a bit too obscure, even for Times readers, to require this kind of polite mouth-covering.

Mr. Rivera had his own suggestion: "Hero." I ask the learned readers of Romenesko: What's yours? Especially evocative ideas will be considered for our radio show this week.


http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=10356

[Sub Atomic]

1. dolt

[democracyindanger]

2. joke nt

[Rosco T.]

3. dick. dork. dumb. over. lost. fool. wimp. wuss. lame. limp. n/m

[notadmblnd]

4. Turd?

nt

[Hello_Kitty]

5. Hack. n/t

[unrepuke]

6. "Hero"? He's a legend in his own mind.

[MisterP]

7. twit

[lanlady]

8. jerk

he is such a jerk.

[vademocrat]

9. Barf

[LiberalEsto]

10. Jerk

dope

or the ever popular s--t

[bridgit]

11. n-u-t-z...

[LisaM]

12. Dork. n/t

[flakey_foont]

13. WNKR

I'd like to buy 2 vowels, Vanna

[Lilith Velkor]

14. Tool

[JohnnyBoots]

15. NASS

[ChairmanAgnostic]

16. nass?

define for us slower membranes of the Humane Race, please.

[JohnnyBoots]

19. He is aN ASS.

[blondeatlast]

17. Tart--as in you-know-what. But putz still nails it best. nt

[devilgrrl]

18. T-W-A-T

:puke:

[rurallib]

20. PUSS

[flowomo]

21. don't forget to send your suggestions to Sagal...

his e-mail address is on the hotlink of his name at the website given in the OP. And mention you belong to DU.... he'll mention it too.