Romney's 'Old-Timey' English Evokes Another World

Some voters are charmed by 'his 1950s language'

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 21, 2012 2:42 PM CDT

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Romney's 'Old-Timey' English Evokes Another World — Linda Hundt, owner of Sweetie-licious Bakery, left, laughs as Mitt Romney takes a bite of cherry pie at Sweetie-licious Bakery on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 in DeWitt, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"Binders full of women" may be the Mitt Romney remark of the moment, but colleagues and friends have long marveled at his uniquely old-fashioned version of English, the New York Times reports. Mormons typically avoid salty language, and Romney's father George also spoke in a gentlemanly manner, but Mitt's vocab is so old-school that one aide calls it "the Gomer Pyle routine." A few examples:

Instead of cursing: Romney utters "H-E-double hockey sticks" for "hell," and likes "flippin'," "good heavens," or "crap." Oddly enough, he also says "grunt."
"If you will": This appears in the occasional Romney sentence, such as, "The cadets were all lined up and sitting at attention, if you will," or on reducing debt, "You have to start accumulating, if you will, reserves."
Passengers "disembark" from airplanes; they don't "get off."
People "guffaw" rather than laugh.
Criminals go to the "big house," not jail.
And he isn't just in love with his wife, Ann—he's "smitten."

Click for the Times' full article. (More Mitt Romney stories.)

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