In the New York Time’s (August 12) article titled, “It’s the loyalty, stupid,” Maureen Dowds comments on Hillary Clinton’s calling President Obama a wimp just as he was preparing to order airstrikes against ISIS. She wrote:
“She said that Obama’s “failure” in Syria led to the rise of ISIS and
sniped about Obama’s slogan: “Great nations need organizing
principles, and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing
principle.”Saying you can’t live by slogans is rich, coming from someone whose
husband’s presidency was built on “It’s the economy, stupid.”oehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/opinion/maureen-dowd-its-the-loyalty-stupid.html?hp&action=click&pgtype
What does "stupid" of “It’s the X (loyalty, economy, whatever), stupid.” specifically mean? Does it mean "obvious / without question"? Can I replace ‘stupid’ with ‘period’?
What are spelt out forms of these lines?
Best Answer
The phrase:
Is using stupid as though it were the name of the person you are addressing. It’s a noun of direct address, or a vocative use. It is like saying:
Of course this is very disrespectful. But that is what it means.