Dubya
From Wikinfo
"Dubya" is a nickname for current United States President George W. Bush, based on his middle initial, "W". It is most often used in caricature and satire. The term tends to be used by critics of the President.
When two different individuals have the same name, such as President George Bush and President George Bush, it is a common American convention to include their middle name or middle initial in order to distinguish them: President George H. W. Bush and President George W. Bush. (For father and son, there is sometimes tradition of appending Senior and Junior respectively.) However, abbreviating President George Bush, Junior to "Bush Junior" or just "Junior" is self-evidently diminutive and could be easily interpreted as derogative.)
Hence the most common appellation is "George W. Bush", much like "Bill Clinton" or "Ronald Reagan". George W Bush is shortened to the nickname W. The nickname W is in turn given the abbreviated pronunciation Dubya. The nickname Dubya is commonly used. Whether Dubya is affectionate/informal/down-home or disrespectful/informal/pejorative depends upon the speaker and listener.
It should be noted that during the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns, supporters of Bush often held campaign-sanctioned signs with the simple letter "W" on them.
External Links
References
- Talk:Dubya
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Dubya" http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dubya&oldid=83863962, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
