I’m looking forward to meeting Joe Biden. I’ve been looking forward to meeting him since the second grade.
VP CANDIDATE SARAH PALIN
ennoia (en-NOY-a), the figure of faint praise. From the Greek, meaning “hidden intention.”
Oh, that saucy Sarah Palin! With a smile like a dog’s before it bites you, she delivers her lines with an energy we haven’t seen politicians exhibit in some time. We’re happy to see Governor Palin’s comfort with one of the finer figures. The ennoia damns the victim through faint praise, allowing you to seem agreeable even when you’re on the attack. But Palin’s use of an it to imply the age of her hoary counterpart strikes us as a tad, well, schoolyardish.
And why isn’t John McCain laughing?
Snappy Answer: “About the time you decided you were qualified for the vice presidency?”
Here’s another example of ennoia.