Post-Election Word Wall Part 1

“I have words . . . I have the best words.” – Donald J. Trump

Words are part of everything, obviously, as they are our most common way to communicate. And every election certainly has slogans attached to it. However, the recent presidential election had new words, old words with new meanings, and new phrases, as well as the usual slogans. 

This is not a partisan post, although most of the material will likely come from one particular side of the campaign. Additionally, most of you know where I stand politically, I would assume. However, let’s have some fun with this. Next week will be part 2, the concluding part of Post-Election Word Wall.

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Most Important Word of the Campaign Award:  E-Mail. It arose early and then was gone for most of us. “I don’t want to hear any more about Hillary’s damn e-mails.” It then reared its ugly head again a couple of weeks before the election. Two days before the election it was rolled back again . . .probably too late.

Election Phrase with the Most Imagery Award: “The Basket of Deplorables.” You can just about picture it. And the word deplorable was pluralized,, meaning it was turned from an adjective into a noun.

The Three P’s: Puppets (No puppet, no puppet; you’re the puppet), Putin (Do you know him or not??), and Pussy (not the cat)

The Three Abbreviations: KKK (where did they come from?), KGB (Hi, Putin!), FBI (oh, Comey)

Most Deplorable Chant: Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up . . .

Most Famous Place Award: Aleppo (“What’s that?” he asked.)

Common Word Erasers Award: Disavow, Walk back

New Words for Racism: 

• Rapists = Hispanics
• Islamic Terrorists = Muslims
• Beyonce, Jay Z ” and the like” = African Americans

Worst Choice to Pick a Fight With: Gold Star Family

Prom King and Queen: Bad Hombre and Nasty Woman

Who Has The Better of This New Presidential Qualification? Temperament 

Best Alliterative Phrase Uttered by a Current President:  Uniquely Unqualified

Best New Vocabulary Word to Impress Your Friends With: Misogyny

Slogans and Phrases of the Campaign:

• Make America Great Again
• Stronger Together
• Love Trumps Hate
• I’m with Her
• God-Given Potential

Legal Term of the Campaign:  Plagiarism

Most Common Google Search Phrase: “Moving from the U.S. to Canada”

AND

Most Common Phrase That Is Also a Pink Floyd Album: The Wall

Trending This Week in Adjectives!

Let’s say we have a truck. Truck, being a thing, is a noun. Now, let’s say it is a delivery truck.  I guess most, if not all, trucks are delivery trucks. That is the function of most trucks.   Let’s say this is a wooden So, now it is a wooden delivery truck. And let’s say that this truck comes from Canada. It is now a Canadian wooden delivery truck.

The truck is red. It is a red Canadian wooden delivery truck. And let’s say it is square. Now it is a square red Canadian wooden delivery truck.

You can tell by the fresh paint on the truck that this truck is quite new. In fact it is just a year old.  It is a year-old square, red Canadian wooden delivery truck.  it is a smallish year-old square red Canadian wooden delivery truck.

Because this truck is new and painted red, it’s pretty shiny. It’s a shiny smallish year-old square red Canadian wooden delivery truck!

So . . . we have a red square shiny wooden Canadian smallish delivery year-old truck, right?

Or is it a Canadian shiny wooden red delivery smallish year-old square truck?

No. Wait . . . it’s a delivery red smallish Canadian square year-old wooden shiny truck.

What’s going on here? Okay. There is one order in which to write adjectives before a noun (and you don’t have to have eight adjectives before the noun; you can have two or three or four). We don’t even think about it; we just know it sounds right that way. These just sound wrong:

• Green big ball (big green ball)
• Pepperoni large pizza (large pepperoni pizza)
• Wooden round table (round wooden table)
• Pink beautiful dress (beautiful pink dress)

Here is the “rule” we follow without even thinking. Adjectives in English must be in this order (or, as the original Tweet said, you will sound like a maniac):

   opinion  – size  – age – shape – color – origin – material – purpose – noun

   shiny  – smallish – year-old – square – red – Canadian – wooden – delivery – truck

And now you know.