Steve Schmidt (McCain's chief campaign adviser) doesn't understand the definition of "nonplussed"

[Tuvok Obama]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/10/AR2010011002296.html?hpid=topnews

Thanks to DUer pepperbear for posting the thread that linked to the original WP article...
Palin believes it was 'God's plan' for McCain to choose her, strategist says
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7436260

In an interview with the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes," Steve Schmidt described Palin as "very calm -- nonplussed" after McCain met with her at his Arizona ranch just before putting her on the Republican ticket.

Merriam-Webster:

nonplus non•plussed also non•plused (1591)
verb transitive:
to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do: perplex syn see puzzle


Schmidt didn't mean calm-yet-puzzled, as evidence by the next paragraph (quoted below). He simply doesn't know the definition of nonplussed.

Schmidt, McCain's chief campaign adviser, said he asked Palin about her serenity in the face of becoming "one of the most famous people in the world." He quoted her as saying, "It's God's plan." Palin has not ruled out a run for the presidency.

While any English dictionary will confirm this, here's a funny excerpt from a cracked.com article:

9 Words That Don't Mean What You Think
http://www.cracked.com/article_15664_9-words-that-dont-mean-what-you-think.html

Nonplussed:

People think it means:
Unperturbed, not worried.

Actually means:
Utterly perplexed or confused. It comes from the Latin non plus (a state in which nothing more can be done).

The misunderstanding would seem to stem from people making semi-educated guesses as to the word's meaning, which kind of sounds like it means "unruffled" or something like that.

Should you care?
If your roommate says:

"The doctor called about your herpes test. He sounded nonplussed."

Then, yeah, it's pretty important that you know what he meant. Either the doc wasn't worried, or the doc was perplexed by the sight of some strand of alien herpes he had never witnessed prior, depending on whether or not your roommate knows how to use the word.

Though, if any of your friends actually start using words like "nonplussed" in conversation, regardless of the meaning, they may deserve a good cock punching anyway.

[niyad]

1. umm, my friends actually know the definition of that word--and a lot more, as well.

[Tuvok Obama]

2. I'm glad they do. My main point was that McCain's chief campaign adviser doesn't

which seems indicative of the general IQ level of that entire campaign.

[Tuvok Obama]

3. I'm shocked that with all the coverage this has gotten on DU and in the news in general

that no one is catching this. Perplexed and serene are not compatible states of mind.

McCain was surrounding himself with people for whom the letters "IQ" were nothing more than shapes they saw floating in their alphabet soup. Kicking for the morning crowd.

[chimpymustgo]

4. That jumped out to me when I heard the interview. A lot of people misuse the word (the interviewer

didn't follow up to have Schmidt clarify, either.)

[Tuvok Obama]

5. The irony is killing me -- that Palin was too dumb to be "perplexed" about the offer, and

that Schmidt lacks the communication skills to effectively relate that Palin's reaction was far from perplexed.