What the hell is it with the word "bigly?"

[blastoff]

My goodness Trump said bigly?

Gee whiz I sure hope he doesn't have to reference a Navy Corpseman any time soon.

 

[Darkwind]

Several times in the past month, I've noticed people writing or saying "bigly." When did that word come into relatively common usage?

I asked someone "in the real world" this question and they answered that Donald Trump used it. Given Trump's abominable English (see also: What Language Experts Find So Strange About Donald Trump), that he used it is adequate reason not to use mimic his doing so. More importantly, however, Trump hasn't, as far as I know, used the word "bigly." (At one point, I thought he did, but it turns out he did not.)

Is "bigly" indeed a legit word? Yes, at least Merriam-Webster says it is, by dint of the grammatical construction of adding the suffix "ly" to the adjective "big," so in the lexicon of American English, it is a word. (The Oxford Dictionary of British and World English does not -- bigness is what comes up when one searches for "bigly" -- so among speakers of non-American English, it's not a word.) Genuine word or not, the question is why and when did "bigly" become so suddenly common?

It is used in a derogatory manner to try and make Trump look stupid. Just more games that everyone seems to want to play.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Is "bigly" indeed a legit word?

It´s in my dictionary.

??? Well, who are you and of what dictionary are you the publisher/editor?

Did you miss my having in the OP written:

• Is "bigly" indeed a legit word? Yes, at least Merriam-Webster says it is.
• Genuine word or not, the question is why and when did "bigly" become so suddenly common?

I don't think there's anything to be gained from contesting or supporting whether the word is legitimate. There's no dearth of words that one can validly form using the conventions of English grammar and that one will not find explicitly listed in a dictionary. Furthermore, and as a purely practical matter, this thread topic exists on the U.S. section of the USMB forum and the (arguably?) most widely accepted authority on the validity of words in standard American English (but probably not English on the whole and as a language) says "bigly" is a word, so, for writings here, it is.

Aside from doing so for poetic effect, I'm unlikely to use "bigly," be I speaking or writing for a predominantly U.S. or non-U.S. audience. If others do or do not, I don't care. I'm just curious about what's made it so popular among writers here. Like me, the people with whom I have material interactions "in the real world" don't and likely won't use "bigly."

Trump is a liberal with a (R) after his name, in case you didn't notice liberals are notorious to introduce new words in a debate

Example

Climate cooling > Climate warming > climate change

Liberal > progressive

Illegal alien > undocumented citizen

Shipping clerk > logistics.

liberals are notorious to introduce new words in a debate Example

• Climate cooling > Climate warming > climate change
• Liberal > progressive
• Illegal alien > undocumented citizen
• Shipping clerk > logistics

Dude, what are you talking about? None of those words are new.

• Etymologies:
  • Climate
  • Change
  • Warm ("warming" is a standard conjugation of "warm" and, in your example, used as a gerund)
  • Liberal
  • Progressive
  • Illegal ("illegal" is merely "legal" with the prefix "il" added)
  • Alien
  • Document ("undocumented" is "document" conjugated with the prefix "un" added)
  • Citizen
  • Ship ("shipping" is a conjugated form of "ship," in your example, it's a gerund form used as an adjectival noun)
  • Logistics

In addition to none of the words you noted being new, I challenge you to credibly establish that any of them were coined by individuals one can accurately classify as what we today call "liberals."

Dude you know exactly what I meant unless you are only 18 years old....

Well, you just keep thinking both those things. I know what you wrote, and I cannot read your mind.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Several times in the past month, I've noticed people writing or saying "bigly." When did that word come into relatively common usage?

I asked someone "in the real world" this question and they answered that Donald Trump used it. Given Trump's abominable English (see also: What Language Experts Find So Strange About Donald Trump), that he used it is adequate reason not to use mimic his doing so. More importantly, however, Trump hasn't, as far as I know, used the word "bigly." (At one point, I thought he did, but it turns out he did not.)

Is "bigly" indeed a legit word? Yes, at least Merriam-Webster says it is, by dint of the grammatical construction of adding the suffix "ly" to the adjective "big," so in the lexicon of American English, it is a word. (The Oxford Dictionary of British and World English does not -- bigness is what comes up when one searches for "bigly" -- so among speakers of non-American English, it's not a word.) Genuine word or not, the question is why and when did "bigly" become so suddenly common?

It is used in a derogatory manner to try and make Trump look stupid. Just more games that everyone seems to want to play.

I'm not sure whether I can put much credence in that explanation, but TY for attempting to, as requested, offer one.

I certainly have seen individuals on USMB lampoon Trump because they view the word as rather puerile and they believe he uttered it. I also have seen (as earlier shown by the linked search results in the OP) members use it, seemingly, with no mockery or malice aforethought.

• Boycott the oscars...bunch of lying,socialist perverts.
  
• Trump Will Get Us Into Another War....Thanks, Rednecks Everywhere
  
• Error | US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum
  
• ‘WTF?’ Guardian journo says Mont. House candidate Greg Gianforte ‘just body slammed’ him
  
• Why Is There Controversy Over Confederate Monuments?

 

[miketx]

 

[xyz]

 

[JOSweetHeart]

For the record, I have never seen it said before...until now that is.

God bless you always!!!

Holly