honcho

did VP Joe Biden really say on a Sunday television talk show, "and I will be honchoing the task force" for the middle class? I heard the quote on the radio, and thought, wow, our VP is showing innovative verbiage. i have never heard "honcho" used as a verb -- especially not in a serious political discussion in mass media. i looked up the word and found it is of Japanese origin, meaning "squad leader," the same word as the Chinese "tuanzhang." it was brought into English when US soldiers occupied Japan in the late 40s.

did Biden really say that?

it turns out he did. i checked the ABC website for the transcript, which reads, "I'm just the guy that's hunchoing this baseline study." who has ever seen a word spelled "huncho"?