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Journalism of Courage
People around the world have their eyes glued to the tussle between the USA and North Korea. With US President Donald Trump launching a scathing attack on the Korean leader at the UNGA and describing him as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission”, it was only about time there was a response. And in his response, Kim Jong-un called the POTUS “the mentally deranged US dotard.”
Soon, the word grabbed the attention of the people on the Internet trying to find out what it really means. Tweeple went berserk to find the meaning and many thought it was a perfect reply to Trump’s cofeve. However, unlike the US President’s word, this really has a meaning.
As people were busy decoding it’s meaning and cracking jokes, social media team of Merriam-Webster came to rescue providing a meaning of the word. On Twitter, seeing the high usage of the word, they wrote: “Kim Jong Un calls Trump a mentally deranged U.S. dotard. Searches for ‘dotard’ are high as a kite.” The word means, a person in his or her dotage. Dotage meaning “a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness.”
The origin of the word was traced back to 14-century and has been used by Shakespear! “The word makes a few appearances in Shakespeare. ‘I speak not like a dotard nor a fool,’ Leonato says in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’,” The New York Times said. The word is a translation of a Korean word called the “neukdari,” which is a derogatory reference to an old person.
According to an AP report, “The Korean version of Friday’s dispatch places “michigwangi,” which means a mad or crazy person, before “neukdari,” so a more accurate translation might have been a “crazy old man” or an “old lunatic.” Nevertheless, people on Twitter found a new reason to troll Trump. While many were baffled by the word, upon knowing what it means said it was “perfect”, others lauded Kim for knowing better English that Trump!
Sample these:
https://twitter.com/brycetache/status/911011769925214210
https://twitter.com/GordMacey/status/911004127068639232
https://twitter.com/UWBio/status/911004382191169536
https://twitter.com/KeithMaskell/status/911008447289806849
https://twitter.com/HITEXECUTIVE/status/911014022496976898
