We just finished our countdown of the Words of the Year for 2016, and the top Word of the Year was “divided."
How did we land on "divided" as the Word of the Year? Well, of course there was Brexit and the break-ups of One Direction and Brad and Angelina; however, the major force in our decision to crown "divided" as the Word of the Year was the great unifier himself, Donald Trump. He worked diligently to divide our country more than any other force this year -- and not because of his bigly, er, big league and unconventional unifying powers. No, the expansion of our grand canyon was more attributalbe to Trump's skills as a mathematician, especially when it comes to the operations of ambition, distraction, uglification, and division.*
AMBITION: On June 16, 2015, Trump descended into the lobby of Trump Tower as if he were submerging into a swamp to feed his own ego with an announcement that he was running for President. Even a top Trump strategist saw through the charade. Relatively early in the campaign, Stephanie Cegielski wrote, “I don't think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters.”
DISTRACTION: Throughout the campaign, Trump was a master of distraction. He duped his followers and the media with diversion, deception and distraction. If someone were to criticize his poor performance in the presidential debates, Trump would tweet about Megyn Kelly, Heidi Cruz, or Alicia Machado (a former Miss. Venezuela). If someone were to report about Trump hiring white supremacists on his staff, he’d tweet about a discourteous audience at “Hamilton.” His tweets came to be known as “weapons of mass distraction.”
UGLIFICATION: Trump disrespected women, belittled Mexicans, disparaged Muslims, mocked the disabled, and more – and then he’d bark invective about anyone who’d call him on it. Trump is the reigning monarch of uglification, and his clan loves it!
DIVISION: By drawing on his skills of ambition, distraction, and uglification, Trump was successful in creating a greater division in our nation so that despite an incredible loss in the popular vote, he squeaked by with enough electoral votes to seize the White House. Поздравляю, товарищ. This fruitful division made "divided" the obvious choice as the 2016 Word of the Year.
Trump’s yuge aptitude as a mathematician, though, reminded us of Emmett Lee Dickinson’s lack of skill in the same area. Therefore, we thought we’d celebrate the start of 2017 with Dickinson’s now classic poem “i suck at logic, stats and trig" (below on the left). His poem inspired E. E. Cummings to pen his poem “i sing of Olaf glad and big" (below on the right).
How did we land on "divided" as the Word of the Year? Well, of course there was Brexit and the break-ups of One Direction and Brad and Angelina; however, the major force in our decision to crown "divided" as the Word of the Year was the great unifier himself, Donald Trump. He worked diligently to divide our country more than any other force this year -- and not because of his bigly, er, big league and unconventional unifying powers. No, the expansion of our grand canyon was more attributalbe to Trump's skills as a mathematician, especially when it comes to the operations of ambition, distraction, uglification, and division.*
AMBITION: On June 16, 2015, Trump descended into the lobby of Trump Tower as if he were submerging into a swamp to feed his own ego with an announcement that he was running for President. Even a top Trump strategist saw through the charade. Relatively early in the campaign, Stephanie Cegielski wrote, “I don't think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters.”
DISTRACTION: Throughout the campaign, Trump was a master of distraction. He duped his followers and the media with diversion, deception and distraction. If someone were to criticize his poor performance in the presidential debates, Trump would tweet about Megyn Kelly, Heidi Cruz, or Alicia Machado (a former Miss. Venezuela). If someone were to report about Trump hiring white supremacists on his staff, he’d tweet about a discourteous audience at “Hamilton.” His tweets came to be known as “weapons of mass distraction.”
UGLIFICATION: Trump disrespected women, belittled Mexicans, disparaged Muslims, mocked the disabled, and more – and then he’d bark invective about anyone who’d call him on it. Trump is the reigning monarch of uglification, and his clan loves it!
DIVISION: By drawing on his skills of ambition, distraction, and uglification, Trump was successful in creating a greater division in our nation so that despite an incredible loss in the popular vote, he squeaked by with enough electoral votes to seize the White House. Поздравляю, товарищ. This fruitful division made "divided" the obvious choice as the 2016 Word of the Year.
Trump’s yuge aptitude as a mathematician, though, reminded us of Emmett Lee Dickinson’s lack of skill in the same area. Therefore, we thought we’d celebrate the start of 2017 with Dickinson’s now classic poem “i suck at logic, stats and trig" (below on the left). His poem inspired E. E. Cummings to pen his poem “i sing of Olaf glad and big" (below on the right).
| By Emmett Lee Dickinson: i suck at logic, stats and trig with hardest drills recalled a chore: entrenched as a stunned resist-or my wellintentioned tutor(grad MIT-er most distinctly trained) took erring logic in her site; but— teacher of an overwhelmed nincom (and knocking on my brain me)aimed at frozen brainwaves of that helplessness which others ignored by rushing completely assumed i grasped their muddy labored love while my faulty intellect stored absolute zero per blunt means-- Logic(being in all percents-- a cryptic and most puzzling math upon the reason God gave me) responds by acting all annoyed “Do not dismiss this function graph” straightway the baffling grid looked blurred (a well-known expletive was heard) but— through all kinds of countless drills (the serving tutor’s tried and true) my passive mind did curse and kick until one day a bell did ding and sum of what was said did stick i aced my first examining a long fought battle over time by means of skillfully reviews and late maneuvers over night Logic(a foe that was once sting) does almost ceaselessly perplex pi anxiety with side effects our last exam is late next week the odds i’m hopeful to defy i’ll study problems each unique so that my grade won’t up and die Christ(so i pray before each test) i ask a “C”; and logically it’s possible i’ll pass because unless statistics lie i will be average quite successfully | By E. E. Cummings: i sing of Olaf glad and big whose warmest heart recoiled at war: a conscientious object-or his wellbelovéd colonel(trig westpointer most succinctly bred) took erring Olaf soon in hand; but--though an host of overjoyed noncoms(first knocking on the head him)do through icy waters roll that helplessness which others stroke with brushes recently employed anent this muddy toiletbowl, while kindred intellects evoke allegiance per blunt instruments-- Olaf(being to all intents a corpse and wanting any rag upon what God unto him gave) responds,without getting annoyed "I will not kiss your f—ing flag" straightway the silver bird looked grave (departing hurriedly to shave) but— though all kinds of officers (a yearning nation's blueeyed pride) their passive prey did kick and curse until for wear their clarion voices and boots were much the worse, and egged the firstclassprivates on his rectum wickedly to tease by means of skilfully applied bayonets roasted hot with heat-- Olaf(upon what were once knees) does almost ceaselessly repeat "there is some shit I will not eat" our president,being of which assertions duly notified threw the yellowsonofabitch into a dungeon,where he died Christ(of His mercy infinite) i pray to see;and Olaf,too preponderatingly because unless statistics lie he was more brave than me:more blond than you. |
*Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, was the first mathematician to identify the operations of Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. However, Donald Trump combined Derision with Uglification, and added Division to the mix. To this date, these methods are the heart of the mathematics curriculum at Trump University.
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