A frightened dog barks louder. . . .This would be fun if there weren't a chance, in my mind small but real, that this could end in war.
I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue.
Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation.
I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.
The lack of self awareness is staggering.
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps there is self awareness, and it's just a question of priorities. Maybe Kim doesn't mind painting himself as a scared dog if he can also claim to have made the POTUS into one.
After all, he's the leader of a tiny remote country, historically plagued by strife and hardship, and literally neighbors with both Russia and China - if he shows himself to be scared, he at least has very valid reasons to be scared. But to be able to reveal the near-mythical, world-influencing colossus of America to be secretly terrified itself? That's true humiliation. That's power, the likes of which not even Russia or China have, because their positions require them to maintain the pretense that the Emperor isn't nude.
Much of the chatter about this speech this morning was about Kim's use of the word "dotard." I thought it was a pretty ordinary word, but lots of people seem to regard it as a Shakespearean archaism that the Koreans must have resurrected from some ancient dictionary.
ReplyDelete@John
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly a fairly uncommon word in this day and age, definitely a bit old fashioned. I'd say it's about as irregular as "bumbershoot" or "chicanery", or somewhere thereabouts.
It doesn't surprise me that people are commenting on it. I confess, the thought that it was mention worthy had crossed my mind as well when I read it, but I figured it was probably a weird translation choice rather than a purposeful usage. But no? Some poking around seems to suggest Kim speaks English fairly well?
Which brings up a fair point - if people think Kim using an old fashione English word is worthy of mirth or mockery, surely the fact that Trump can't speak of word of Korean is far more so? In fact, Kim probably has a larger and more complex English vocabulary than Donald himself.