Trump’s vocabulary exercise

Written by

Ophelia Benson

in

The Times has compiled a massive collection of Trump’s Twitter insults of various people and institutions. Each item is a link. That’s a lot of work!

Let’s look at the list under Elizabeth Warren:

“Sad to watch”
“bombed last night!”
“Pocahontas”
“Pocahontas”
“wanted V.P. slot so badly but wasn’t chosen because she has done nothing in the Senate”
“Pocahontas”
“a very weak Senator”

“Goofy”
“Pocahontas”
“Goofy”
“the least productive Senator in the U.S. Senate”
“Goofy”
“goofy”
“one of the least productive senators”
“Very racist!”
“Goofy”
“has a nasty mouth”
“one of the least productive U.S. Senators”
“Goofy”
“All talk, no action!”
“Total hypocrite!”
“lowlife!”
“Goofy”
“she doesn’t have a clue”
“If it were up to goofy Elizabeth Warren, we’d have no jobs in America”
“goofy”
“failed Senator”
“gets nothing done”
“lied”
“Our Native American Senator”
“goofy couldn’t care less about the American worker”
“does nothing to help!”
“using the woman’s card”
“didn’t have the guts to run for POTUS”
“Goofy”
“phony Native American heritage”
“didn’t have the guts to run for POTUS”
“Goofy”
“phony Native American heritage”
“has done nothing!”
“one of the least effective Senators in the entire U.S. Senate”
“Goofy”
“All talk, no action — maybe her Native American name?”
“Does nothing”
“weak and ineffective”
“Goofy”
“phony Native American heritage”
“Goofy”
“has a career that is totally based on a lie”
“Hillary Clinton’s flunky”
“Goofy”
“goofy”
“a fraud!”
“goofy”
Then there’s the Times itself:
“just write whatever they want to write, making up sources along the way!”
“don’t even call us anymore”
“failing”
“failing”
“failing”
“irresponsible intent”
“failing”
“Really disgusting”
“a laughingstock rag!”
“willing to say anything”
“has gone nuts”
“failing”
“failing”
“seriously failing”
“only writes dishonest hits!”
“no longer a credible source”
“at the back of the pack”
“has not reported properly”
“failing”
“a dying newspaper”
“gets worse and worse by the day”
“failing”
“failing”
“Their reporting is fiction”
“failing”
“Very dishonest!”
“newspaper of fiction”
“failing”
“a joke”
“failing”
“failing”
“These people are sick!”
“a total lie”
“failing”
“failing”
“So totally dishonest!”
“Very dishonest!”
“failing”
“failing”
“failing”
“Very sad!”
“Every article is unfair and biased”
“will always take a good story about me and make it bad”
“Failing”
“a disgusting fraud”
“has become a joke!”
“false, malicious & libelous”
“failing”
“failing”
“totally dishonest”
“failing”
“a fraud!”
“failing”
“so dishonest”
“totally dishonest”
“DISHONEST!”
“failing”
“Wow, I have had so many calls from high ranking people laughing at the stupidity of the failing @nytimes piece”
“failing”
“Everyone is laughing at the @nytimes for the lame hit piece they did on me and women”
“A joke!”
“wrote yet another hit piece on me”
“failing”
“has lost its way!”
“Always trying to belittle”
“the most inaccurate coverage constantly”
“bad”
“Becoming irrelevant!”
“a seriously failing paper”
“covers me so inaccurately”
“failing”
“Really bad people!”
“never even call to fact check”
“They knowingly write lies”
“truly one of the worst newspapers”
“failing”
“failing”
“allows dishonest writers to totally fabricate stories”
“failing”
“change your false story”
“boring articles”
“should focus on fair and balanced reporting”
“SAD!”
“big help will be needed fast”
“incompetent”
“made all bad decisions over the last decade”
“dopes”
“poorly run and managed”
“should be focused on good reporting and the papers financial survival”
“failing”
He’s a credit to us all.

Comments

6 responses to “Trump’s vocabulary exercise”

  1. Ben Avatar
    Ben

    These lists highlight the poverty of his rhetorical skills. I know that fair-minded liberals are supposed to say, “He might be a demagogue, but he sure does know how to communicate effectively with the mob.” But if you read transcripts of his remarks, it’s nothing more than a few pet phrases and epithets repeated endlessly.

    It all sounds like, “We’re going to win, folks. We’re going to win, believe me. I’m telling you, we’re going to win. It’s not even going to be close. We’re going to win so big. Not even close. Believe me, not even close. Such a big win.”

  2. iknklast Avatar
    iknklast

    That’s the vocabulary we should expect from a man who (proudly) doesn’t read. He has no opportunity to brush up on the finer nuances of language.

    Maybe I should send him my book of Shakespearean insults – it would at last make things more fun.

  3. Dave Ricks Avatar
    Dave Ricks

    George Lakoff explains how Republican rhetoric in general and Trump’s rhetoric in particular have been successful in terms of linguistics and cognitive science. Lakoff recommends reading his first article to understand his theory in general first, then reading his second article on Trump makes sense in that context. From his second article,

    Some in the media (Washington Post, Salon, Slate, Think Progress, etc.) have called Trump’s speeches “word salad.” Some commentators have even attributed his language use to “early Alzheimer’s,” citing “erratic behavior” and “little regards for social conventions.” I don’t believe it.

    I have been repeatedly asked in media interviews about such use of language by Trump. So far as I can tell, he is simply using effective discourse mechanisms to communicate what he wants to communicate to his audience. I have found that he is very careful and very strategic in his use of language. The only way I know to show this is to function as a linguist and cognitive scientist and go through details. [emphasis mine]

    Lakoff recommends that political progressives should study how this works. As a practical guide, I can recommend his book Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.

  4. Ophelia Benson Avatar
    Ophelia Benson

    Yes, I’ve followed Lakoff’s work on this a little bit…via other people’s summaries, mostly. Matt Nisbet and Chris Mooney were big on him back in the days when they were very keen to tell atheists to sit down and be quiet. In short people used to talk about “framing” a lot, often crediting Lakoff.

    It looks as if Trump’s rhetoric hasn’t been all that successful. He won some but at the price of repelling more.

  5. Ophelia Benson Avatar
    Ophelia Benson

    …But I’m reading the first piece now & will then read the second. Thank you for the reminder, Dave!

  6. Ophelia Benson Avatar
    Ophelia Benson

    Come to think of it, I have read Moral Politics. Should re-read it now.

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