Trumpery

In two days, my country turns the highest office in the land over to a self-absorbed, mendacious, double-dealing, amoral con man. A man who lies without even thinking. A man who will take a solemn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and will proceed to turn the United States of America into a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of The Trump Corporation.

One of the blogs I follow noted this week the English word "Trumpery," which has been around since Shakespeare and Milton. According to the Oxford Dictionary, its meaning of "deceit, fraud, imposture, trickery" dates from at least 1847; the definition above comes from my grandfather's 1938 MacMillan Modern Dictionary.



The word derives from the French "tromperie," meaning a cheat, which in turn comes from the verb "tromper," to fool or deceive. The verb also gives us the artistic term describing two-dimensional art that appears so real that you mistake it for being three dimensional — a marble sculpture that appears to be wearing a gauzy veil — wax fruit that looks tempting to eat: trompe l'oeil, literally "trick the eye."

Trompe l'oeil

So be forewarned. From now on, if I refer to KellyAnne Conway, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Rudy Giuliani or any of their ilk as a "Trump loyalist," the pun is intended.