From a transcript of the Obama’s appearence on the Tonight Show:
MR. LENO: Wow. And it’s, what, a Portuguese water head? (Laughter.) What is it, what kind of dog is it?
MR. OBAMA: It’s not that. (Laughter.)
MR. LENO: It’s not that.
MR. OBAMA: It’s not a “water head.” (Laughter.)
MR. LENO: Whatever they are, I don’t know what they are.
MR. OBAMA: That sounds like a scary dog. (Laughter.) Sort of dripping around the house. (Laughter.)
MR. LENO: I don’t know what it is.
waterhead:
Originaly slang for someone who is Hydrocephalic, but which has now come to refer to any severe idiot or retarded individual.
I don’t want to say that this isn’t entirely accidental and innocent, but given the President’s “Special Olympics” comment that came later this is all very unfortunate, no? I do wonder what the heck they were talking about off-camera.
UPDATE: Yes, I know that Leno was probably referring to a Portugese Water Dog, the breed the Obama’s have supposedly chosen. That doesn’t make the choice of words any less regrettable given the context…
UPDATE II: Just to be clear, again I do think that this is most likely accidental on Leno’s part, and normally I wouldn’t give it a second thought if it weren’t for the president’s unfortunate remark that followed.