Fake news, Kate’s Law, Bad Hombres – Donald Trump often took two simple words everyone knows, combined and tweeted them to create political earthquakes. Despite “the Donald’s” opponents frequently sneering at the reality star’s teenage vocabulary, they failed to grasp the impact of his newly crafted words, and especially, of his compounds. To a greater extent than any other candidate, the former real estate mogul coined new compounds to convey his political agenda. For instance, the enormous popularity of “fake news” discredited the supposedly biased mainstream media so effectively that Donald Trump became virtually immune to bad press. Hence, I will explore in this essay how clever campaign compounds decided the 2016 US presidential race.
The paper is split in an introduction to compounding and a review of the most important compounds of the 2016 US presidential race. The introduction starts by giving an overview over the structural, sociopragmatic and cognitive perspective on compounding. A closer look at the semantic structure of compounds and an evaluation on typical compounds follows. The introduction to compounding closes with a general explanation on the creation, consolidation and establishment of complex lexemes. The section Campaign Compounds covers some of the most important compounds of the presidential race: Nicknames, Kate’s Law, Bad Hombres, Two Corinthians and the crowning jewel of them all, Fake News.
Since established databanks, namely the Oxford English Dictionary online, the MLA International Bibliography, the Bibliography and the American National Biography online, had little to no hits on those entries, I relied heavily on newspaper articles published online in order to get some idea of the current spread of compounds, and I also conducted a small survey amongst students from Heidelberg and Durham. The entire survey is attached in the appendix, but the most important stats are: asked for the first three words associated with the 2016 US election campaign, 26,6% mentioned at least one compound. “Fake news” led with 20% followed by “Crooked Hillary” with 10%. In general, those numbers were significantly higher for students from Heidelberg.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- What are compounds?
- Three perspectives: structural, sociopragmatic, cognitive
- Semantic Structure
- Typical versus non-typical compounds
- Development of Complex Lexemes
- Campaign Compounds
- Nicknames
- Kate's Law, Bad Hombres
- Two Corinthians
- Fake News
- Conclusion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This essay explores how clever campaign compounds, such as "fake news" and "bad hombres," influenced the 2016 US presidential race. The author argues that these compounds effectively communicated Donald Trump's political agenda and helped him to achieve political success. The essay also provides an overview of compounding in English, including its structural, sociopragmatic, and cognitive perspectives.
- The impact of campaign compounds on political discourse
- The formation and use of compound words in English
- The role of the media in shaping public opinion
- The effectiveness of political messaging through language
- The relationship between language, politics, and identity
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The introduction provides an overview of compounding in English, covering three key perspectives: structural, sociopragmatic, and cognitive. It also explores the semantic structure of compounds, the distinction between typical and non-typical compounds, and the development of complex lexemes. The chapter then delves into the concept of campaign compounds, focusing on their creation, consolidation, and establishment.
The section on Campaign Compounds examines some of the most prominent compounds used in the 2016 US presidential race, including nicknames, Kate's Law, Bad Hombres, Two Corinthians, and Fake News. It analyzes the specific effects and implications of these compounds, particularly their role in shaping public opinion and influencing voters.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The key terms and concepts explored in this essay include: compound words, campaign rhetoric, political discourse, fake news, media bias, public opinion, sociopragmatics, cognitive linguistics, political messaging, and linguistic innovation.
- Quote paper
- Manuel Damián von Spangenberg (Author), 2017, "Fake News", "Kate's Law", "Bad Hombres". Clever Campaign Compounds that decided the 2016 US Presidential Race, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/454893
