Did Donald Trump Really Win Bigly?
Did President-elect Donald Trump Win Bigly, or did he suffer an attack of the mumpsimus?
We all know that the Donald loves to use superlatives, but 'bigly'? Really? Well, no not at all really.
We are all subject to preconceptions about our environment. A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest, right? But we often miss-hear words and are puzzled by what we think we heard. As Earwig O1 would say, "sailor vee"2.
A superlative often used to denote 'a great amount' is "big-time". If Mr. Trump had said "big-time" he would not have been misunderstood. By choosing to use a much less usual phrase he gave an opening to the mumpsimuses, or should that be mumpsimi?
A mumpsimus is a person who holds tight to error in the face of fact. A mumpsimus is quite literally incorrigible.
So, where does this 'bigly' come from? It's an obvious mondegreen, and despite the mockery Donald Trump won "big league". Simples.
footnotes
1 - Here we go, chanted repeatedly to the tune of the trio in Sousa's 'Stars and Stripes Forever'.
2 - C'est la vie - that's life!
