What's a dotard? Twitter goes wild after Kim Jong Un's vocab Trump burn
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President Donald Trump called on the United Nations to stop North Korea’s leader from a “suicide mission.”
USA TODAY
Merriam-Webster found itself at a loss for words when President Trump famously tweeted “covfefe” earlier this year. But on Thursday, the online dictionary was up to task and redeemed itself when social media needed it the most.
In response to Trump’s combative U.N. General Assembly speech against North Korea and his decision to ramp up economic pressure on the reclusive nation, Kim Jong Un called Trump a “mentally deranged dotard” who is “unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country.”
Shortly after Kim’s statement, Twitter tossed the question to Merriam-Webster, asking for dotard’s definition:
Who gets to read Trump the definition of “dotard”
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) September 21, 2017
And the online dictionary quickly knocked it out of the park:
“The word as used today commonly means ‘a person in his or her dotage,'” Merriam-Webster said shortly after the word went viral, adding that dotage: “is a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness.”
Dotard, Merriam-Webster said, comes from “the Middle English word doten (meaning ‘to dote’), initially had the meaning of ‘imbecile’ when it began being used in the 14th century.” Â
People were quick to thank Merriam-Webster, some with emotion:
‘Dotard’ is a good one to pull out of the bag. Wish I learnt it doing a crossword instead of through being on the precipice of nuclear war.
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) September 21, 2017
North Korea:Â Trump’s U.N. speech sounded like ‘dog barking’
More:Â North Korean leader calls Trump ‘mentally deranged’
Related: Trump says he will sign new executive order to pressure N. Korea
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A woman dressed in a traditional gown pays her respects at statues of late North Korean leaders, Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. Unaware of reports his eldest son – and current leader Kim Jong UnÂ’s half-brother – was killed just days ago in what appears to have been a carefully planned assassination, North Koreans marked the birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il on Thursday as they do every year.Â
Azalea, whose Korean name is “Dalle”, a 19-year-old female chimpanzee, smokes a cigarette at the Central Zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea Oct. 19, 2016. According to officials at the newly renovated zoo, which has become a favorite leisure spot in the North Korean capital since it was re-opened in July, the chimpanzee smokes about a pack a day. They insist, however, that she does not inhale.Â
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