Is the Word “trump” Doomed to Change Forever?
Do you ever feel bad for the word, “trump”? Once a rather innocuous word associated with triumph or card-playing, now, it has become almost totally associated with a person and that person’s actions. Personal opinions of that person aside, that’s a dramatic change for a little, 5-letter word. But is it a permanent change? Is “trump” doomed to change forever, or will this association fade?
Names Changing Words:
the Fate of “trump”
I’ve talked about how words change and that words can be names. But what about names changing the meaning of words?
Eponyms: More Permanent Changes
Looking back at how names changed language, the most enduring example I’ve found is the eponym – a word that comes from a name. And most of those are the results of discoveries and inventions named after the person given credit.
Well, that or the more insulting varieties: words used to describe behaviors or characteristics that someone by that name had.
The ones on the list that seem most applicable (as they’re related to other U.S. political figures) are…
Those definitely show how the name of a political figure can change language.
On the other hand, those examples add regular word endings to the person’s name to make a new word. The name wasn’t a word to begin with. Also, those words are commonly used in phrases in the language.
In fact, most words that I can think of that have changed dramatically and permanently did so by having the new meaning commonly used in language (names or no).
So since “trump” has not been changed into a new word and is not commonly used to represent anything besides the person, it may not be doomed to a permanent change the way other slang words are.
Generational Slang: Less Permanent Changes
The only prior example I can think of where the name became used as a noun or adjective without changing it is President Hoover who was largely blamed (at the time) for the Great Depression (or, at least, making it worse).
- Hoover blankets = newspapers used as blankets
- Hoover flags = empty pockets
- Hoover shoes = shoes with holes in them
But those slang terms didn’t last past the generation that made them. In fact, I doubt that most people under 40 have ever heard those terms.
Does that mean that there is still hope for the word “trump” to return to its original meaning? Or is it doomed forever to have strong connotations to a single person?
Thoughts? (About the word change only, please.)
-Em
