I still don’t get it. Why is “Mittens” derogatory? Is there some context I’m missing. The only associations I have with the word is the things that keep my hands warm when I’m skiing, which seems like kind of a weird thing to call someone, but doesn’t really seem insulting. Is it the name of some TV character or something I’m unaware of?
(I guess it also sounds like something I’d name a cat whose feet are different colors then the rest of it, in which case I’d guess whether its insulting or not would depend on how you feel about cats.)
In 50 years when you have to decide between candidates Aiden, Jayden, Kaden, Hayden, and Braeden, you will be longing for the days of Newt and Willard.
It’s derogatory because it is dismissive and twee. “Mitten” is just not a word that inspires people to take the subject seriously. It’s a child’s version of a glove (because children don’t have the fine motor skills necessary to successfully get their fingers in the right places).
How would you expect Johnny Bench to react to you, were you to meet up with him at, say, a baseball card show, and you asked him to autograph your catcher’s mitten?
I use it to refer to him sometimes just because I think it sounds so ridiculous. Imagine how absurd it would if that really was his first name. I think most people use it to be mildly insulting or to imply he’s not to be take seriously. I don’t know that it is really derogatory. More likely disrespectful.
Hmm…I guess I don’t really associate mittens with being childish. I wear them when I’m going to be in a really cold environment for a long period of time (like skiing when its really cold out) because they’re warmer then gloves, as they keep all your fingers bunched together. To me they’re like hardcore snow-wear, when regular gloves just won’t do. But I could see where maybe in warmer climates they’re more likely to be associated with small children.
Mittens as cold weather wear are useful, but that’s not the point here.
To restate what others have - Mitt Romney is an adult male running to be president of a major superpower since, what, 2007 now?. Calling him ‘Mittens’ diminishes him (at least in the eyes of the caller) since it most assuredly is NOT a strong, virile nickname - quite the opposite. Such mock-naming is not unheard of in the “Blogosphere” - e.g. Chris Matthews, host of the show Hardball, is often referred to as ‘Tweety’ (this began well before Twitter).
Using ‘Mittens’ is an easy way to imply that Romney is someone not to be taken seriously.
I knew that his official first name was something completely unrelated to Mitt, but I couldn’t remember what it was. It doesn’t matter, anyway: The most relevant standard by which to judge a “real” name is what that person is most often called, or what they introduce themselves as. And in either case, for Mr. Romney, that means his “real” name is Mitt.
For comparison, when was the last time you heard someone refer to James Carter? Same principle.
I think it’s just a play on the fact that “mitt” is already a well known shortening of the word “mitten” and also that “Mittens” is a common name for a cat, because its paws kind of look like they’re wearing mittens, especially with certain coloring patterns.