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Mihai27

A short history of ‘dotard,’ the arcane insult Kim Jong Un used in his threat against Trump

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Kim Jong Un: ‘Deranged U.S. dotard’ Trump will pay for threats
 
 
In a rare statement on Sept. 22, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called President Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard," vowing to “tame him” with fire. On Sept. 19, Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea in front of the United Nations General Assembly. (Reuters)

In the latest war of words between the United States and North Korea, Kim Jong Un did not pull any punches.

But he may have pulled out an old dictionary.

“I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire,” Kim declared in an unusually direct and angry statement published Thursday by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

The North Korean leader’s warning about “fire,” which echoed President Trump’s August statement threatening “fire and fury,” was par for the course in the increasingly tense relationship. On Thursday, Trump announced new financial sanctions to further isolate the country as its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities rapidly escalate.

But Kim’s use of “dotard” was what raised eyebrows, prompting people around the world to Google the old-time insult.

Merriam-Webster defines the noun as “a person in his or her dotage,” which is “a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness.”

Oxford’s definition: “An old person, especially one who has become weak or senile.”

 

It’s pronounced dō-tərd (as in DOE-turd), and searches for the term spiked following Kim’s statement, Merriam-Webster noted.

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