# Calling George Bush "Shrub"- supposed to be insulting?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [December 30, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798 "2003-12-30T18:01:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/1 "2003-12-30T18:01:59Z")
I’ve seen on the boards some “clever” jokers referning to President Bush as “Shrub.” Ok, I get it: bush and shrub are synonyms. But why do they think it’s an insult? Is a shrub shorter? Smellier? Dumber? Less able to run a country? Why is this supposed to be some witty cut down??? Sounds more like a kindergartener’s first attempt at insulting someone when they don’t quite get the concept.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/2 "2003-12-30T18:10:48Z")
Well, yeah, that’s about it. It’s a childish insult, the likes of which are always popular with some folks.
Trinopus
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### Author:  [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/3 "2003-12-30T18:11:26Z")
For what it’s worth, his former oil company was called _Arbusto_, which Spanish for shrub.
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### Author:  [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/4 "2003-12-30T18:14:23Z")
He’s like Bush, but smaller, less impressive, and less important. It’s a pretty minor little slam, not meant, I think, to be superwitty but more of a throwaway eyerolling kind of insult.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/5 "2003-12-30T18:35:59Z")
I always skip any post with “shrub” in it. I’m not a huge fan of President Bush, but whenever I see this, I always think “What’s next, are we gonna start a rumor that he has cooties?” It just seems childish to me.
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/6 "2003-12-30T18:40:40Z")
The moniker dates from when, at least in the national vernacular, “Bush” without any modifiers, meant the fella who was President from 1989-93. It was meant to both distinguish and belittle. Now just the latter, of course.
Can’t say this is really a great debate, or even much of a little one. But hopefully the responses suffice to answer the OP.
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### Author:  [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/7 "2003-12-30T18:46:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Jpeg Jones \*
> \*\*…his former oil company was called _Arbusto_, which Spanish for shrub. \*\*
By calling him Shrub one calls to mind his difficulties with language.
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### Author:  [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/8 "2003-12-30T18:53:14Z")
Nyeh. Yeah, it’s an insult (though calling him ‘dubya’ isn’t) but it’s no worse that the old ‘Slick Wille’ stuff.
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### Author:  [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/9 "2003-12-30T19:09:56Z")
Shrubs aren’t exactly impressive specimens of the plant kingdom. Bush isn’t exactly an impressive specimen of the human race.
Works for me.
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### Author:  [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/10 "2003-12-30T19:18:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> “What’s next, are we gonna start a rumor that he has cooties?”
I hope this comes to pass. 🙂 Nothing to add because I find making fun of someone’s name beneath me.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/11 "2003-12-30T19:53:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RTFirefly \*
> Can’t say this is really a great debate, or even much of a little one. But hopefully the responses suffice to answer the OP.
Shhhhh! Don’t complain, or before you know it this thread will turn into a debate about whether Bush lied about WMDs.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/12 "2003-12-30T20:14:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by John Mace \*
> Shhhhh! Don’t complain, or before you know it…
By all means! If opposition to Shrub gets vocal enough, the jokers could decide to take another tack on the president’s name, and start referring to him as America’s bearded clam.
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### Author:  [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/13 "2003-12-30T21:03:20Z")
Sometime around 1995, while taking an American Lit class at Berea College, I came across my first experience of offensive name practices. I believe the text was by Boorstin, but what I remember most is that Adams and Whitman and Emerson were all referred to in their intoductory paragraphs as, suprisingly enough, Adams, Whitman and Emerson. However, when we came to Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s address to the New York State Legislature, she was referred to _exclusively_ as Elizabeth, as if she were the little pet of Boorstin (if, indeed, I am remembering correctly that it was his text). After some consideration, I decided that the lesson I would take was to always refer to historical and political persons by their full name or their last name only. It seemed the only intellectually consistent thing to do.
Anything else is in poor taste and suggests an unseemly political agenda, IMO, nevermind what side it comes from.
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### Author:  [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/14 "2003-12-30T21:14:31Z")
Yeah, I left it here in GB since I figured eventually it WOULD turn into some political debate and thought I’d save the mods the time. I usually stay out of debates since, in general, I don’t really give a crap about things. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/15 "2003-12-30T21:29:34Z")
I remember Tricky Dicky, and, of course, Slick Willy was quite recent.
I can’t remember an epithet of this sort applied to Carter, Ford, Reagan, or Bush the Elder.
(Reagan was often called “The Gipper,” but that was meant to be affectionate, if not admiring. You’d occasionally hear “Ronnie Rayguns,” but that doesn’t seem to be exactly the same thing…)
Trinopus
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### Author:  [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/16 "2003-12-30T21:31:02Z")
When Bush Jr. was running for gov here in Texas (as I recall), he was called “Shrub” just as a cute way to distinguish him from his daddy. Big Bush, Little Bush. Little Bush = “Shrub”. It’s a natural progression, and there probably wasn’t any insult implied at that point in time. After all, most of the hubris that’s been dumped on his head came long after the nickname started appearing in the press.
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### Author:  [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/17 "2003-12-31T00:57:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> After all, most of the hubris that’s been dumped on his head…
“Overbearing pride or presumption” was dumped on his head? I’ll say.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/18 "2003-12-31T02:06:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Trinopus \*
> \*\*I can’t remember an epithet of this sort applied to Carter, Ford, Reagan, or Bush the Elder. \*\*
Well, Bush41 never quite recovered from that ‘wimp’ label. It always struck me as kind of a strange thing to call a former fighter pilot and head of the CIA.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/19 "2003-12-31T02:26:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \*
> \*\*Well, Bush41 never quite recovered from that ‘wimp’ label. It always struck me as kind of a strange thing to call a former fighter pilot and head of the CIA. \*\*
Bush Sr was a bland, cautious president who seemed to have few if any solid convictions. For a politician, that’s got wimp written all over it.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-george-bush-shrub-supposed-to-be-insulting/221798/20 "2003-12-31T03:32:47Z")
Conversely, his son has a bountiful supply of solid convictions. Sadly, they are mostly nonsense.
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