Oxford experts say Bush's use of crawfish was right
For once George Bush is right and his critics wrong, according to the experts at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
American commentators who said the president’s use of the word “crawfished” as a description of Saddam Hussein’s behaviour, didn’t exist are wrong.
Experts at the OED said today that Mr Bush had used the word correctly and the term “crawfish” does exist as a verb, meaning to back out.
It’s earliest recorded use as a verb was in 1848, a spokeswoman for the OED said.
Rob Scriven, Editorial Director for English Dictionaries said: “Despite assertions to the contrary, crawfish can be used as a verb in the way that George Bush used it yesterday.
“It is in several Oxford dictionaries in the UK and US defined as ‘To retreat from a position taken up; to back out’.
“The Oxford English Dictionary contains evidence for its use as a verb as early as 1848.”
The president’s spokesman Ari Fleischer, said the use of the word referred to broken Iraqi commitments to disarm, adding: “This is what Saddam Hussein has tried his best to slither out of, as the president put it, ‘to crawfish out of’.”
It is not the first time that Mr Bush has raised eyebrows with his choice of words. He famously promised to bring to justice “those folks” responsible for the September 11 atrocity and told the world he wanted Osama Bin Laden “dead or alive”.
