HuffPo: Donald Trump’s Former Ghostwriter Slams GOP Nominee’s ‘200-Word Vocabulary’

[matt819]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-vocabulary_us_580d458de4b0a03911ed69b6?section=

snip

Schwartz said Trump’s vocabulary is tiny ― evidenced by how he ad-libs his speeches with phrases like “believe me.”

“It’s a 200-word vocabulary, so as soon he gets beyond that, you know that he’s reading someone else’s words,” Schwartz said. He theorized that Trump probably doesn’t familiarize himself with prepared remarks before delivering them because of his “incredibly short attention span.”

While most candidates speak at a sixth- to eighth-grade level, Trump “lags behind others” when it comes to vocabulary and grammar, according to a March analysis by Carnegie Mellon University.

snip

We all knew this already, and several studies have already come out showing us that he speaks at a 3rd grade level. You could argue that he's tailoring to his audience, but I am increasingly wondering whether he really is just plain not smart in a book-learning sort of way. Could his bullying be driven by the possibility that he simply lacks the verbal and intellectual skills to communicate?

We've seen the word salad images showing the predominance of certain words. It would be interesting to see an actual individual word usage count.

[MineralMan]

1. He truly does have a small vocabulary.

It's the sign of a non-reader, really. Trump does not like to read. He uses an active vocabulary that is just Basic English.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English

Here's the word list for Basic English:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Basic_English_word_list

The word list for Basic English is about 850 words. People who master that vocabulary can get along in English language countries pretty well, but are not able to express much nuance in their use of the language.

Trump's non-scripted speeches sound a lot like Basic English to me, with few synonyms for adjectives, the part of speech that creates unique expressions. Instead, he uses words like "tremendous" over and over again. He can't come up with alternatives for such words on the fly, so they are not in his active vocabulary.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

2. He ca'int be stoupid he's a billoinare!

[apcalc]

4. Maybe....

I'm betting on a thousandaire....

[A-Schwarzenegger]

8. Is that more then a billoin?

[JNelson6563]

3. As we all know, tiny hands mean tiny vocabularies

among other things...

[BSdetect]

5. I deplore his speech patterns and limited vocabulary

He's an ignorant non-reader, non-thinker.

He also repeats phrases frequently to cover his lack of thought.

[putitinD]

13. Maybe next cycle, the GOP will just nominate a parrot. it would probably have a larger vocabulary

and make more sense.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. In other words, a vocabulary 1/5 the size of a border collie's.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827921-900-border-collie-takes-record-for-biggest-vocabulary/

[randome]

7. He speaks at a Cliven Bundy level.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"Everybody is just on their feet screaming 'Kill Kill Kill'! This is -hockey- Conservative values!"
-Slap Shot (1977)[/center][/font][hr]

[putitinD]

12. Cliven Bundy sounds like a Rhodes scholar next to the Donald.

[Coyotl]

18. I'd love to see those two at a spelling bee.

[ailsagirl]

20. That smile!!

[Coyotl]

21. That's the smile of Obama shaking my ex-partner's hand.

[3catwoman3]

9. My now 26 yr old son...

Last edited Mon Oct 24, 2016, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

...was capable of more complex thought, and had a much bigger vocabulary by the time he was in KG.

[sarae]

10. Tony Schwartz is so effective at describing the real Donald Trump.

I wish everyone saw through Trump's BS in the same way.

[Coyotl]

11. " It would be interesting to see an actual individual word usage count. "

Do it. The debate transcripts are online,albeit they contain practiced lines, it will be interesting. Also, Wordle graphics serve as great summations and candidate comparisons.



“Transcript of the Republican Presidential Debate in Houston” Wordle from the text.


Wordle word clouds of the Republican (and Dem) debates this week

Trump announcement speech:

[progressoid]

16. That last word cloud misspelled "China"

I believe it is "Jyna"

[DesertRat]

17. That's really cool, thanks

[Ligyron]

22. Oh, Oh!!

I've got BINGO!

[TonyPDX]

14. Trump's vocabulary is not small. In fact, it's bigly. Believe me. The bigliest.

[progressoid]

15. That's not fair.

I bet Donnie has at least 100 words for women alone.

[ailsagirl]

19. Interestingly, some of his tweets contain "big" words

Not that I read them-- they're often featured on MSNBC-- that's as close as I get to "reading" them

Maybe he's just talking down to his audience? It's hard to say.

[Cha]

23. I believe it.. he's not smart.