Dotard, a New Moniker for Trump Went Viral

“I will surely and definitely tame the deranged U.S. dotard with fire.” The insult was a riposte from the supreme leader of North Korea after he was nicknamed “Rocket Man” by U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.N. General Assembly. The unusual word left many people scratching their heads, and Google searches for “dotard” rose sharply.

So, what does it actually mean? The Twittersavvy dictionary Merriam-Webster was quick to come to people’s aid.

Merriam-Webster defines dotard as “a person in his or her dotage,” with dotage meaning “a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness.” It stems from the Middle English word “doten,” which was used to describe an imbecile at the time of its introduction in the 14th century.

According to Google’s Ngram Viewer, which allows users to track the popularity of words through time, use of the word dotard peaked in English corpus in the early 18th century.Obviously, this word is slightly dated, and some people were left perplexed:

—OMG HE CALLED TRUMP A #dotard—Is that a word?

—Wait... is that a real word?—*looks up the word*—HE IS A DOTARD!

After looking up the definition of “dotard,”American netizens praised it:

—The so-called “President” of the United States just got out-Englished by a guy raised in a Koreanspeaking totalitarian regime. #dotard

What’s more, the word “Dotard” can be broken up into “Donald” and “retard.” The famous American funny website, Funny or Die, redefines it as:

—Dotard, a word you didn’t previously know existed, but googled today and said, “Damn, that’s pretty accurate.”

Some people thought Kim came out on top of the exchange:

—Mentally deranged US dotard? That’s pretty good actually. I’d definitely rather be referred to as Rocket Man. This round to the Korean side.

—Without firing a single shot, Rocket Man defeated

—And I’m loving it.

—Hate agreeing with ruthless dictators but yea this sounds about right...

90% of twitter users suggested that Trump used“Rocket Man” because he had forgotten the North Korean leader’s name.

It is not the first time North Korean media has used such language. They have described U.S.President Barack Obama a “dirty fellow” and a“clown.” Hillary Clinton was branded as a “funny lady.” Former South Korean President Park Geunhye was called “snake.” North Korean media was no easier on former U.S. President George W.Bush’s administration. Bush was called a “dictator”and a “half-baked man in terms of morality and a philistine.” The word “half-baked,” like “Dotard,” is hilarious.?