Refudiate: A twitter typo or something else

Well, maybe the mistake was slightly more than a typo, but not one that isn't all-too-similar to one many of us have made—in some form or another. If nothing else, Palin's error serves as the ultimate reminder of how powerful social networking platforms such as Twitter have become for public figures (and everyone else). After all, the incorrect word at hand—"refudiate"—only graced her page for a few minutes before removed and replaced with the word "refute," the former quickly becoming one of the most searched-for-words on the web. Kind of scary. Twitter is great because it makes celebs seem like they’re “real”—but, oftentimes, being “real” means making grammatical errors and typos.

Refudiate

“‘Refudiate,’ ‘misunderestimate,’ ‘wee-wee’d up.’ English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!”

It remains unclear if the former Alaska governor meant refute or repudiate –she first referenced the word last week on Fox News, calling on President Obama and his wife Michelle to “refudiate” the NAACP’s suggestion that the Tea Party movement was racist.

As word of the word (no pun intended) spread, Ms. Palin presumably decided to delete the tweet. A second tweet asked “peaceful New Yorkers” to “refute the Ground Zero mosque plan.”

Ms. Palin was in New York on Sunday in an effort to assist protesters who are opposing the building of mosque just blocks from ground zero where the World Trade Center once stood.