This is the hilarious backstory for Donald Trump's 'short-fingered vulgarian' nickname

How short fingers became short fingers.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Donald Trump almost wasn't a "short-fingered vulgarian" at all. According to Spy magazine co-founders Graydon Carter and Kurt Andersen, who coined the phrase that spawned the now infamous Donald Trump short finger controversy, there were other nicknames in the mix that didn't get traction.

The two co-founders said they had come up with other descriptors for Trump ("Queens-born casino operator" was one of them, Anderson said), but, it was the "juvenileness" of the phrase, Carter said, that made it stick."Yes. The short-fingered vulgarian: The combination of smart — 'vulgarian' — and 'short fingered,' just a stupid, ad hominem physical description," Anderson added. [Politico]

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.