Newton Leroy ("Newt") Gingrich is a gold mine for comics, pundits, political writers, and anybody interested in a good time. The former Speaker of the House, sometime novelist, money-making historian, and 24-hour idea factory is rarely at a loss for words. (His failure to have a ready retort to Governor Mitt Romney's assertion that Speaker Gingrich, like Governor Romney, indirectly holds shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the exception that proves the rule.) During his time as Speaker of the House, Mr. Gingrich offered his colleagues a revealing little memo called "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control," and much of his own language these days is about his two greatest rivals in his bid to become president of these United States of America, Mr. Romney and President Barack Obama.

In the past few months, while lambasting Governor Romney, Mr. Gingrich has lavished special verbal care on Mr. Obama's presidential decisions. Is the so-called Buffett Rule, in which millionaire and billionaire bosses are asked to pay tax rates comparable to their secretaries and administrative assistants a good idea? It's stupid, Mr. Gingrich says, "so stupid that even [this administration] couldn't defend it."

Is the suspension of a controversial pipeline from Canada through the United States a good idea? Stupid, Mr. Gingrich says, in a line repeated so often the crowds at his rallies can finish the sentence. And in case you couldn't hear for all the noise, he repeats himself: "This is a stunningly stupid thing to do."

In all of my vocations (but particularly as writer and English professor) I am attuned to words. When I see repetition, say, the word "stupid" repeated over and over, I tend to take note. When that word is often modified by an adverb, say "stunningly" or "appallingly," I also notice. I am not a fan of adverbs, since like Ernest Hemingway, I think simple, well-chosen language communicates most strongly. So I don't like it when people say things like "absolutely unique"—the modifier has no reason for being.

But I also understand why people use adverbs like "appallingly"—because they're not certain their adjectives (like "stupid") are communicating their point. After all, Speaker Gingrich has said in following up his comments on how stupid you have to be to believe the "Buffett Plan" would be a good idea, that it may be that the president is too thick to even get it. Following the State of the Union address Mr. Gingrich said, "I'm not sure he understood what he was saying."

That's right. The former Speaker of the House is asserting (and this is not the only time he has done so) that the President of the United States is delivering a speech he doesn't even understand.