Does trump have a limited vocabulary?

[gopiscrap]

No, I mean seriously! I don't think I heard a president in my lifetime (Johnson on up) speak with so few different words (and I am not saying this in a good way) This is my third language and I think I have a bigger vocabulary than he does. I expect a president to be linguistically able to construct a decent sentence

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. He does, bigly. nt

[panader0]

48. Sad. Not good.

[True Dough]

52. He said "big league" today

He clearly enunciated it for a change. It still sounds so unprofessional. Here's the supposed "leader of the free world" (sitting next to the woman who truly is now a candidate for that title) and he's claiming that he's going to make the American economy roar back "big league."

I think it makes matters worse that Drumpf follows on the heels of Barack Obama, a tremendous orator.

[samnsara]

2. i heard someone months ago refer to him as.....

......functionally illiterate...and I believe it. I think that's why his kids and other family members are so close to him alllllll the time.

[EL34x4]

22. They couldn't have been more wrong.

Trump is not functionally illiterate. He does not have a limited vocabulary. He is not an idiot.

It's all an act.

Morons don't become billionaires and get elected President of the United States. Perpetuating the notion that Trump is some low-IQ rube is what got us here in the first place; standing outside the White House fence while he's inside destroying everything that liberals once held dear.

Continue underestimating this guy at your peril.

[JHan]

27. He is functionally illiterate and millions voted for him.

Yes lots of people can vote for stupid.

He got a start in life thanks to his Dad and he is not a brilliant businessman. He has a talent for self promotion and a con artist- he's a man of his time in that sense.

That is all.

[Dream Girl]

41. No he's the poster boy for white priviledge. He is dumb and illiterate, but he is white and 'rich"

Growing u many African are told you have to be "twice as good to get half as much"

[Hortensis]

42. A 40-year act that constantly loses him money

and respect? He was never accepted by his "peers" in NY, you know. Invited to some fund raisers, but otherwise laughed about and rejected whenever possible.

Economists say that if he'd simply put the money his father gave him in the same kind of investment funds we can he'd be far wealthier today. And he could have skipped all of the 3500 plus lawsuits he's been involved in, all the swindling, all the crimes that are documented committed even if not prosecuted.

Remember, this is a man who at 69 running for president literally and astonishingly had no idea that Congress can and very often does say no to the president, that THEY legislate, not him, and that THEY control the checkbook.

Rump does have talent, all right--the talent of a salesman to sell himself to naive people. And, as the years went on he developed the ability to become a populist leader by selling authoritarian political messages to ignorant and resentful people looking for a leader who spoke to their resentment. Very much like a child who learned what tones evoked what responses from parents, he learned what it was he said that made people cheer loudest. And loved it.

Sarah Palin was another. She had the same talent and, like Rump, was otherwise a bundle of inadequacies. Note that Bernie Sanders also has that talent to energize crowds of people, and he also became a populist leader, left-wing version, in the same era; but his ultimate capabilities we don't know.

[Alice11111]

51. I do think you are right about underestimating him.

It is one of his strengths. He is still illiterate, rude, boorish, mean, sociopathic, blah, blah.

Us not taking him seriously, along with the world, may make it easier for him to destroy the world.

[EL34x4]

56. It's just I've seen this movie before.

As a teen in the 80s, I remember "amiable dunce." Reagan served two terms. Two decades later, Will Ferrell played GWB as a flat-out imbecile. Again, two terms. Are we shooting for the trifecta?

Trump may be rude, boorish, and mean but he is not illiterate. Dumb men do not get elected President.

[Alice11111]

62. I've known illiterate smart people. Semantics.

He is not well read, has a limited vocabulary. He is the best promoter in the world. He did have the intelligence, instincts, to figure out what he needed to do to get elected, a Karl Rove kind of thing, which was genius. He had the advantage, like Putin, of not being bothered by conscience or ethics. Huge advantage! No or little labor costs, when you don't pay your hard workers. That is irrelevant though, as his followers didn't just like him in spite of his lack of ethics, but partly because of it.

You are right, we have watched this movie before. I don't think you have to be really smart to get elected president. His people manage him tightly, because they know he bungles it. He practically ran the primary by himself though. That played to his strength. The skills to be elected are sometimes different than those needed to govern. Obama had both. Hillary had one, but not the other. Bush could get elected, but he was an awful prez, like trump. At least, Bush had more Competent people around him, with a few exceptions. Trump isn't secure enough to do that. The narcissistic personality plays in too.

[LeftInTX]

55. I think he has a limited vocabulary for a president.

I don't think he is "into words" or their very specific meanings. I don't think he paid much attention to vocabulary in school.

I don't think he is stupid or illiterate.

[Alice11111]

50. Exactly. They can't let him out alone.

Remember when Ivanka had her baby and he went off the rails. She had to hurry back.

[gibraltar72]

3. fifth grade

at best.

[LOL Lib]

4. He has a BIGLY limited braggadocious vocabulary.

[leftstreet]

5. You're a bad hombre for suggesting this. Sad!

[DesertRat]

6. Yes. It's obvious that he doesn't read, only watches tv.

[Orsino]

7. Yes. Fifty words.

And eight of those are "fantastic."

[niyad]

10. and three "horrible", and ten "sad"

[smirkymonkey]

46. Don't forget his favorite...

"failing"

[niyad]

66. yes, how remiss of me.

[hopeforchange2008]

8. That would be "Yes"

[gopiscrap]

9. Yeah, I thought it just might be me

but every time I hear that fucker yak, it's about 10-15 of the same words over and over again

[Maru Kitteh]

11. I would guess him to have about a 13K to 18K word vocabulary.

For reference, the average native born speaker = 25K to 35K .

[elfin]

12. Think he knows ALL the words for ALL denominations of ALL currencies

Does that count??

[lunatica]

13. He talks more with his hands and face gestures and his shrugs

[gopiscrap]

14. I honestly think he has less of a vocabulry than Bush

and Bush was pretty stupid

[sarcasmo]

15. "He knows many words"

[FSogol]

18. ...all the best words. Good words. His words are better than those other words....

[Laffy Kat]

16. Why would you say that?

He has the best words.

[trof]

17. He has 'the best words'. He said so.

Maybe just not a lot of them.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="

?ecver=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[gopiscrap]

20. Ha ha best answer yet!

[NightWatcher]

19. He speaks at a 4th grade level ....

And his base reads at a 3rd grade level.

[gopiscrap]

21. if that much

[NightWatcher]

23. I read a story where they analyzed his speeches and came to that conclusion.

[nolabear]

24. I think you can tell exactly how far over his head he is by his vocabulary.

I've watched him use his big boy words fairly ( not eloquently) well when he's on familiar ground and devolve into simply echoing his stock cliches of rage and victimhood in his toddleresque babble when he gets pricked in that thin, thin skin.

[gopiscrap]

25. Good observation

that's how I have seen it too

[Stinky The Clown]

26. Yes, very limited. It is said he is near illiterate

and not at all bright. More a lizard brain than intellect.

[Xipe Totec]

28. Some people are monosyllabic, some polysyllabic, But Trump is imbesyllabic. nt

[unblock]

30. !

[Siwsan]

33. By George, I think you've GOT it!!

May I borrow, please????

[Xipe Totec]

38. Sure!

[unblock]

29. i think he *used to* have a decent vocabulary.

certainly he was far more fluid and coherent in his speech in earlier days.

some of his psychological issues were his throughout his life, but i think there's been some clear deterioration over time as well.

[gopiscrap]

32. do you think the VD he had earlier in his life has started to eat his brain?

[unblock]

36. i have no evidence of that, but, people are saying...

[Eliot Rosewater]

34. I dont believe that at all. I have observed this asshole for a long time, maybe you saw something

I didnt but this is who he is and always has been.

[unblock]

37. i just mean as far as his speech goes.

certainly he's always been a bigot and a sexist pig and an *sshole and an inept businessman and hopelessly egocentric.

maybe it has something to do with, as others have noted, his discomfort in his the political arena. his speech certainly wasn't this bad decades ago when he would talk about real estate.

[Eliot Rosewater]

31. Those in the know say he has the literacy of a 12 yr old.

And no curiosity about anything, shallow, dumb and mean.

[gopiscrap]

35. there is no way he should be president

[panader0]

47. When my kids were 12 yrs old they were much more literate.

[Alice11111]

54. It fits my observation.

[Kimchijeon]

39. I've heard first graders with better vocaculary

[NastyRiffraff]

40. 200 total words, tops

And he doesn't use most of them very much.

[RKP5637]

43. And when he uses them he's reading from notes! n/t

[democratisphere]

44. No vocabulary. Speaks in snarled tongues.

[pansypoo53219]

45. typical non reader. my vocabulary has gotten better since i started reading old books. 1891-1910.

[Alice11111]

49. I noticed that Merkel, and most foreign leaders, speak

better English than he does. Not to mention his wife. Geez, I study Spanish before a trip to Mexico to talk with the locals, and I'm a private person. This woman has known for two years that either she could become first lady and now she is first lady, and she doesn't even have tutors. She has been here 20 years.

[C_U_L8R]

53. Crazy insane, got no brain

[GWC58]

57. Trump is

limited, period!! 🤣

[Docreed2003]

58. Yes...

Limited to mostly monosyllabic words

[Cha]

59. We've noticed and Tony Schwartz said so. He's a dumbshit

[ecstatic]

60. It's because he doesn't read ANYTHING. Reading is essential for

vocabulary. Writing is too. This is a man who dictates his stupid tweets most of the time (I assume he is behind the ones with the poor spelling and grammar).

[Juliusseizure]

61. A sociopaths intelligence can be unconventional

Despite appearances, he's smart. It's not conventional or straightforward smart anymore. He can do that if he wants. Watch the YouTube link from age 33. His answers are sharp, articulate and well informed. He knew the real estate subject matter on a sophisticated level.

The apprentice boardroom scenes aren't scripted. I found him impressive in those scenes.

Why does he act dumb? He has no experience doing what he's doing and is uninformed. He's improvising Imagine being put in the most high pressure demanding job and having no training.

You can either stumble around attempting to look smart but failing, or or just wing it while on the lookout for scapegoats to distract the audience.

Here's a passage about how sociopaths think:

[link:

|


"do you happen to know if sociopaths are typically of extremely high i.q.? from what i've seen from personal experience and posts on your site, most individuals who fit the classification appear to be at least above average in intelligence. is this an accurate observation?"

My response:
I think that sociopaths would typically score high(er) on IQ tests, but I don't know if that would necessarily mean that they are of above average intelligence. Sociopaths are extremely capable of finding the weaknesses in things, people, the social fabric, etc., like a shark sniffing blood or a dog "smelling" fear.

Let's take for example the fact that I have always performed very well on standardized tests. I will readily admit that doesn't necessarily make me "intelligent." Rather, when I read a question, I am not always looking for answers, or even clues to the answers, but rather clues into the test maker's mind. Are they trying to trick me? I think, if I were a test maker, how many different ways could I ask a question on a critical issue? There will always be a limited number of ways that test makers can/will ask questions--you just have to figure out which, and then recognize those particular questions when you see them. I also try to guess what would be the fake answers test makers might come up with. Test makers have fears like everyone else has fears -- fears that a question will be too easy, fears that a question may have more than one answer or be ambiguous. You can practically see a test taker's CYA precautions in some of the questions you read. You know immediately what the answer is, just like when you ask someone, "Where's the safe?" and they say "I don't know," but their eyes look to the wall behind the desk. Obviously the safe is in the wall behind the desk.

Is this ability to sense weakness what intelligence is? I wouldn't think so. Standardized IQ tests don't necessarily test intelligence, they just test someone's ability to correctly mark the right answer -- they don't account for how you managed to choose that right answer. Take the extreme example: you obtained all the answers ahead of time (cheated). Your score indicates a very high IQ. Does that mean you are intelligent? What if, instead of "cheating," you are a mind reader and get the answers that way? What if you are just very good at predicting what answer test makers think is "right"? Does that mean you are intelligent?

But I do think most sociopaths seem intelligent, particularly to empaths. They have different blindspots than you do, and they think out of the box because they aren't in a box, or at least not the same box you are. Have you ever heard a child speak a foreign language? Maybe for a moment you are amazed. "Good lord! That child's speaking Swahili!" But you are amazed because you are framing the issue in terms of how difficult it would be for you to be speaking Swahili, particularly at that child's age. Your mind has forgotten that some people grow up speaking Swahili as their native language, or in bilingual homes. So the sociopath can amaze the empath with his charm, wit, and intelligence, just because that is the sociopath's "native language," so to speak.

But are sociopaths perceived as being above average, charming, witty, and intelligent? Yes, most of us manage to come off that way. And life is almost always form over substance, rarely the other way around.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

63. It's extremely obvious that he has a very limited vocabulary.

Various observers have pegged it at about a third grade level, maybe fourth grade on a good day. It does seem possible that he is functionally illiterate, possibly a bit dyslexic, given how difficult it seems to be for him to read out loud, as in from a teleprompter. His insistence on very short briefing papers is not the sign of an incredibly intelligent man, but of one who has an extremely short attention span and unwillingness or inability to read.

His "success" in business started with a million dollar loan from his father, and as several others have already pointed out, he's the poster boy for white, male, Protestant privilege.

He's also a bully and a narcissist, and has almost never heard the word no in his entire life. Look at all the stories coming out of the WH these days about how he has to be jollied and flattered.

[Beacool]

64. Yes, he does.

He's of average intelligence, but crude and uncultured. He doesn't read and is intellectually lazy. He has no hobbies, other than playing golf at one of his clubs. He's only ever been interested in making money and self-aggrandizement. The POS is a malignant narcissist.

I always wondered how he got into Wharton. Well, it appears that he was a transfer student and that his brother Fred knew someone in the admissions office. He was an average student and every weekend he would travel back to NY to work on some real estate deal with his father.

He's always been nothing more than a petty, small and vindictive pile of dung.

[Doreen]

65. My mother is an English major and you should see

her cringe when he talks. A six year old would need less correcting on the proper ways to speak.