Meaning of Romnesia | Babel Free

Definitions

A propensity to claim to have forgotten, or act like one has forgotten, one's past deeds and political positions.

US, uncountable

Examples

“When the Boston Globe asked Mitt about the incident in 1994, he provided a classic mind-numbing “Romnesia” evasion: “I don't have any memory of what she is referring to, although I certainly can't say it could not have been me.””

“In a typical display of what Kossack AlyoshaKaramazov calls "Romnesia," the all-but-official presidential nominee conveniently couldn't remember the incident in which, aided by some of his pals, he attacked a gay student at his prep school and, while others held the boy to ground, whacked off his non-conformist long hair because "he can’t look like that."”

“The fact that Mitch Daniels apparently has forgotten we are at war in Afghanistan—even though he served in the White House when we began the war more than a decade ago—is a fitting tribute to the Romnesia that has infested the Republican Party.”

“If you say you’re for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you’d sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work — you might have Romnesia. If you say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care — you might have a case of Romnesia. If you say you’ll protect a woman’s right to choose, but you stand up at a primary debate and said that you’d be delighted to sign a law outlying — outlawing that right to choose in all cases — man, you’ve definitely got Romnesia.”

“This is more than Romnesia / Or any other Romney brainteaser. / This is cognitive dissonance.”

CEFR level