The Wørd



The Wørd is a trademark of Stephen Colbert. Some, including Stephen, pronounce it just like "The Word".

The segment of The Colbert Report is in respect for the great Papa Bear Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points, the opening segment of the The O'Reilly Factor. It also resembles the commentary segments on other shows such as John Gibson's My Word on The Big Story (clips of which were used on the May 15th episode).

The Wørd for Factonistas
In it, Colbert chooses a different word or phrase each night (except for Special Reports) as the basis and theme for a calm, logical analysis on an important issue facing America. Displayed next to him is a bullet point, which either summarizes or illustrates on whatever Colbert is feeling so the factonistas can understand. This bullet point often serves as a counterpoint to Colbert because Jimmy either screws up or is trying to be funny (which he never is). In some of the more humorous statements, the text simply completes Colbert's sentence in a poignant way. In other cases, the bullet point simplifies or elaborates on some point.

For example, Colbert mentioned in early interviews that he would say something like "I'm angry!", while the bullet point would list "Colbert = Angry". On Feb. 9th, 2006, it was implied that the bullet points are supplied by one of Colbert's seven brothers, while on May 9, 2006, the bullet points themselves implied they were part of Colbert's subconscious (as he insisted that he did not have a subconscious). This, of course, is Jimmy amusing himself at the expense of the heroes and the security of the homeland.

Factoids

 * As of July 20, 2006, five episodes did not include "The Wørd". In each of these episodes, a special guest joined Colbert at the time "The Wørd" would normally have been shown, such as Miss Manners on the March 23 episode. Another  did not have a specific "word"; rather, the absence thereof provided the theme of the segment.
 * Sometimes, the "word" is actually more than 1 word.
 * The "ø" featured on the show is handcrafted by Norwegian republican virgins and costs Dr. Colbert nearly $ 5,000,000 per episode.
 * The Wørd is infallible.

Live utterances of The Wørd

 * State Of Shock at FSU

Wikiality.com's Tribute to Dr. Colbert's Wordstylings

 * Dictionary