Excellent point. But where I notice it the most is when he speaks.
Perhaps this is all a tempest in a teapot and he has always spoken like this, but when the 2016 primary first started heating up, Trump’s use of simple vocabulary was one of the first things my ear noticed. If I had time, I’d scour old tapes of Trump interviews and try to get a feel for differences between then and now. If I had a TON of time, I’d write some software to analyze speech difference for me.
BTW, changes in speech habits can signal brain changes. I am NOT saying that Trump has dementia or anything. Just pointing out a fact. The example I recall was an analysis of Agatha Christie. Her vocabulary became much more limited in her last few novels. And IIRC her plots became much more vague. You can probably find a discussion of that somewhere on the internet.
Aside from his odd (to me) vocabulary, nothing about Trump strikes me as if he were mentally impaired. Quite the contrary. And I have 3 possible explanations for the vocabulary.
I believe President Trump “dumbs down” his vocabulary for the public. I don’t mean that as he is condescending, just that when he speaks to the general public he insures he is understood.
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generally wrote:
Excellent point. But where I notice it the most is when he speaks.
Perhaps this is all a tempest in a teapot and he has always spoken like this, but when the 2016 primary first started heating up, Trump’s use of simple vocabulary was one of the first things my ear noticed. If I had time, I’d scour old tapes of Trump interviews and try to get a feel for differences between then and now. If I had a TON of time, I’d write some software to analyze speech difference for me.
BTW, changes in speech habits can signal brain changes. I am NOT saying that Trump has dementia or anything. Just pointing out a fact. The example I recall was an analysis of Agatha Christie. Her vocabulary became much more limited in her last few novels. And IIRC her plots became much more vague. You can probably find a discussion of that somewhere on the internet.
Aside from his odd (to me) vocabulary, nothing about Trump strikes me as if he were mentally impaired. Quite the contrary. And I have 3 possible explanations for the vocabulary.
I am sure Trump speaks according to what he figures his audience can grok best.
PS. I have an extensive vocabulary, due to reading at age 4 and reading much classic literature, poetry, etc and having the habit of reading dictionaries for fun and use, even now I have 3 next to where I sit and read (and two thesauruses - thesauri?).
When I write either poetry or articles I generally use a much more elaborate or precise vocabulary than when speaking. If I am speaking for formally, my speech patterns and vocabulary are very different when talking informally. And changes depending on who I am speaking with, topic, etc.
People who have spent time with Trump personally say he he is very different than much of his public persona.