A few days ago, the President spoke to a group of Olympic athletes from the Torino Winter Games. Whether it was him or his speechwriter, someone tried way too hard to be cool when he said, “We want to thank all the dudes and dudesses of the snowboarders who are here.”

I think using “dude” alone was trying too hard, but dudesses? Way too hard and way too wrong. No one uses the term dudess. (If you frequently use that terms, please post a comment. I would love to hear about it.) Dudette, maybe, but never dudess.

While trying to be clever and connect with a cool subculture he completely alienated himself. He might as well have screamed, “I don’t have a clue who you are and what you people are like!”

I am sure the snowboarders will get over it.

But what happens when a church tries too hard to be cool? (more…)