Donald Trump has inspired a whole new verb in Mexico
Languages are constantly changing and evolving — just look at some of the words added to the English dictionary over the past few years. Perhaps the most obvious of all is the verb "to Google," which didn't exist before the search engine became prevalent. Naturally, as the need for new words arises, something is invented or modified. The next thing you know, we're all googling "What did Trump say during his speech today?"
In Mexico, Spanish is experiencing just such a change as a new verb begins to enter into usage: "trumpear." You might guess its etymology:
[Political science professor Dámaso Morales Ramírez] pointed to a new word, Trumpear, a play on the Spanish verb trompear, which means "to hit" or "to punch." The exact definition of the neologism is still being debated.A Mexican reporter suggested on Twitter that it meant "to hit, to vilify, to polarize, to revile, to terrorize as an electoral strategy." An academic defined it as "the act and effect of proposing stupid things that are impossible to realize." A technology businessman wrote that it meant "to do the ridiculous and then contradict yourself afterwards." [The New York Times]
Durante su discurso el miércoles, Trump trumpeó. See? Useful.
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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.
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