Is this the "gravitas" buzzword of the 2008 election?
CALUMNIATORS, civil law. Persons who accuse others, whom they know to be innocent, of having committed crimes. Code 9, 46, 9.SLANDERER. A calumniator, who maliciously and without reason imputes a crime or fault to another, of which he is innocent.
2. For this offence, when the slander is merely verbal, the remedy is an action on the case for damages; when it is reduced to writing or printing, it is a libel. (q. v.)
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
\Cal"um*ny\, n.; pl. {Calumnies}. [L. calumnia, fr. calvi to devise tricks, deceive; cf. F. calomnie. Cf. {Challenge}, n.]False accusation of a crime or offense, maliciously made or reported, to the injury of another; malicious misrepresentation; slander; detraction. ``Infamous calumnies.'' --Motley.
Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. --Shak.
Webster's 1828:
CALUMNY, n. Slander; false accusation of a crime or offense, knowingly or maliciously made or reported, to the injury of another; false representation of facts reproachful to another, made by design, and with knowledge of its falsehood; sometimes followed by on. Neglected calumny soon expires.
Danielle Allen, Year 0 of the Age of Obama:
... a useful distinction between accusation and calumny, or slander. Accusers present themselves and their evidence publicly so their accusations can be debated by the accused. That debate provides a reasonable basis for public deliberation. But calumny is anonymous, secret.
No, ma'am, sorry. A distinction that is hard to make today, and for the past 200 years in English, that language which we presumed that being among our intellectual literate elite you might be presumed to know.
By the way what language did Machiavelli write in? You must be very careful in translating Italian of the early 1500's into modern English, dearie.
No, “NARRATIVE” is the buzzword this time around.
Overly used by the libs. “NARRATIVE”, as in:
Barack Hussein Obama’s personal narrative is a total fiction.