Most people don't know what that word means, but a blind test would almost certainly yield the guess that the word was an animadversion ("Don't you call me macaca, big boy, understand?"), though I suppose much hangs on the tone of voice in which the word is pronounced. Try using it as if to describe St. Francis of Assisi.
If anything is clear in Virginia now, it is that Mr. Allen wishes he had never heard the word "macaca." It is possibly in desperation at the reaction to her son's use of the word that Mrs. Allen thought of a possible means of augmenting ethnic attractiveness by recalling her Jewish roots. So, George ran with it, and at this point, gives the impression of running in every direction.
COPYRIGHT 2006 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
William F. Buckley
William F. Buckley, Jr. is editor-at-large of National Review, the prolific author of Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography.
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