Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Trolls Donald Trump After Press Conference

Image by Getty Images, Mandel Ngan

By Gabriel Lehrman February 17, 2017

When President Trump called on a friend of the Trump Administration, Jake Turx of Ami Magazine, he didn’t expect it to create such a kerfuffle.

After misinterpreting a question about rising anti-Semitism in the United States, Trump responded with indignation over being attacked as an anti-Semite.

“Here’s the story folks, number one. I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life. Number two: racism. The least racist person,” he said.

That answer inadvertently sent droves of people to the dictionary.

Following the press conference, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary reported that anti-Semitism had become the second highest searched word on their website for the day. They made a point of noting it on their Twitter feed as well.

“Anti-Semitism is among our top lookups this afternoon,” the tweet read.

?’Anti-Semitism’ is among our top lookups this afternoon. https://t.co/Jcejz0vQpK

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 16, 2017

This isn’t the first time that Merriam-Webster’s search terms have gotten political.

There was that time they made sure everyone knew what dossier meant, so they could keep up with the news.

?’Dossier’ means “a file containing detailed records on a particular person or subject.” https://t.co/Vyyc3GPkJ9

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) February 11, 2017

Their shout-out to “bigly.”

So apparently we’re doing this again. Cheers. ? https://t.co/zHTNNl1XAE #debatenight

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) October 20, 2016

And when they set Kellyanne Conway straight for her use of the phrase “alternate facts.”

?A fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality. https://t.co/gCKRZZm23c

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 22, 2017

Take the time to go through the dictionary’s twitter feed. It’s well worth an informative, occasionally snarky read.

Gabriel Lehrman is a former Social Media Intern at The Forward. Follow him on Twitter @LivefromLehrman.

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