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Obamamania: The English language, Barackafied

Bar-Echo ChamberThe latest addition to Slate's dictionary of Obamaisms.

By Chris Wilson
Posted Tuesday, July 8, 2008, at 11:36 AM ET

Today's Obamaism:

Bar-echo chamber (bah-REK-oh cheym-ber) n. The comments sections on blogs and newspaper Web sites where readers reinforce one another's love for Obama and distaste for Hillary Clinton.

Example: While the editors had hoped that user-generated content would foster a healthy debate on their Web site, they found that the forums quickly devolved into a Bar-echo chamber.

Since Slate first launched its Encyclopedia Baracktannica in February, more than 800 readers have written in with their own Obamaisms, from "Barack Ness Monster" to "Post-Baracalyptic." The best of these entries, along with Slate's original Obama neologisms, are collected in a new book: Obamamania! The English Language, Barackafied, available now.

In conjunction with the publication of the book, we will be publishing a new Obamaism every morning and adding it to the Obamamania widget above, which you can add to your Facebook or MySpace profile or Web site.

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Chris Wilson is an editorial assistant at Slate in Washington, D.C.
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