Latest news with #Merriam-WebsterDictionary
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Donald Trump declares he invented a brand-new word that linguists say has been in dictionaries for over 500 years
Donald Trump said he invented the word "equalize" while announcing a drug price order, but the word has existed for centuries. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs On Monday, May 19, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new executive order . The order tells prescription drug companies to lower their prices within 30 days, claims they don't do it, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will step in. That department is led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The department will then make new rules to match U.S. drug prices with cheaper prices in other explaining the plan, Trump said he had invented a new word, "equalize." He called it the best word and said everyone would pay the same amount. He explained the U.S. would pay the same drug prices as Europe, as mentioned in the report by Trump didn't really invent the word. Merriam-Webster Dictionary says "equalize" was first used in 1599. The word is still used a lot today. Trump himself has used the word before, like in a speech to Congress on March 5, according to that March 5 speech, he talked about how the U.S. gave more money to Ukraine for defense against Russia than Europe. He said, "It's hard to believe they wouldn't have stopped it and said at some point, come on, let's equalize", as mentioned in the report by isn't the first time Trump went viral for weird words. On April 2, during his 'Liberation Day' speech, he got super excited about the word 'groceries.' He said, 'It's such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term, groceries.' Trump explained groceries as 'a bag with different things in it', this information is from a report by People.Q1. Did Donald Trump really invent the word "equalize"?No, the word has been used since 1599, according to dictionaries.Q2. What was Trump's new order about drug prices?It tells drug companies to lower prices in 30 days or face new rules.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Says He Just Invented a 'New Word,' Which Is Now the 'Best Word.' It's Been in Use Since the 1500s
President Donald Trump put his unique vocabulary on display once again this week. On Monday, May 19, the president signed a new executive order that gives the manufacturers of prescription drugs 30 days to meaningfully lower the cost of their medications. If that deadline isn't met, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will be tasked with developing new regulations that equate U.S. drug prices with lower costs paid in other countries. In explaining his plan to reporters, Trump had something of a linguistic revelation. 'Basically, what we're doing is equalizing. There's a new word that I came up with, which is probably the best word,' he said. 'We're gonna equalize, where we're all gonna pay the same. We're gonna pay what Europe's gonna pay,' he continued. Of course, Trump isn't the first to use the word "equalize." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says the first known usage of the word happened in 1599, and it remains common in modern times. The president himself has even used the word multiple times in the past, including in his address to a joint session of Congress on March 5. While claiming that the United States had contributed significantly more to Ukraine's defense against Russia than other European allies, Trump said, "Biden has authorized more money in this fight than Europe has spent by billions and billions of dollars. It's hard to believe that they wouldn't have stopped it and said at some point, come on, let's equalize. You got to be equal to us. But that didn't happen." However, this may, in fact, be the president's most viral vocabulary moment since he became fascinated with the word "groceries" while giving his "Liberation Day" speech on April 2, announcing sweeping tariffs and promising savings for U.S. consumers at the supermarket. 'It's such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term: groceries," he mused. "It sort of says a bag with different things in it." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
James Comey is back in Trump's crosshairs. This time, it's different.
James Comey, the polarizing former FBI director, walked into a Barnes & Noble in New York City, sat down on a three-legged stool and began to extol the virtues of his new crime novel to the few dozen people who came to his book signing Monday night. Days earlier, he sparked a firestorm on the right — and a Secret Service investigation — when he posted a photo on Instagram that Donald Trump and senior administration officials insist was a call for the assassination of the president. Now Comey, as talkative and confident as ever, was brushing aside the chance that he might face criminal charges. 'They were total pros,' Comey said of the Secret Service agents who interviewed him, adding of the brouhaha: 'Maybe it'll go away.' But while he was signing books, Trump's former defense lawyer Alina Habba, now the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, announced that she has filed criminal charges against Rep. Lamonica McIver, D-N.J., for her actions during a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark. The announcement underscored how differently the Justice Department has operated in the first four months of Trump's second term compared with the first four months of his first term. Trump loyalists — like Habba, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel — hold top law enforcement roles, and this administration has been even more aggressive in targeting political foes, as well as universities and law firms. While Comey downplayed the investigation of his Instagram post as a 'distraction,' the indictment of McIver put into stark relief how he may not be as safe from prosecution — or at least a long-running criminal probe — as he indicated Monday. Trump 'is surrounded by people willing to cater to his worst instincts,' said Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. 'I was no fan of Jeff Sessions or Bill Barr, but it seemed to me that they had some limits,' Somin added, referring to Trump's first-term attorneys general. 'It seems like Pam Bondi has a lot fewer limits.' Hours before he showed up at the Barnes & Noble, Comey appeared on MSNBC for his first interview since the Instagram post last Thursday. It showed seashells arranged in the shape of '8647' on the beach. Trump is the 47th president, and 86 can informally mean 'to get rid of,' according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Comey said he never considered that the post would generate controversy. 'I really thought that I was done,' he said. 'I was in another life. I was a grandfather and an author wearing sweaters and jeans and then went for a walk on the beach and posted a silly picture of shells that I thought was a clever way to express a political viewpoint. 'And actually, I still think it is. I don't see it the way some people are still saying it,' Comey added. 'But again, I don't want any part of any violence. I've never been associated with violence, and so that's why I took it down.' Trump fired Comey in 2017 amid the FBI's investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign coordinated with Russia. He was investigated by John Durham, a special counsel appointed during the first Trump administration to investigate the propriety of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe, and he was not charged with a crime. 'It's not my first rodeo,' Comey said. But he did express dismay at the Trump administration's targeting of political opponents. 'One of the real problems we have in this country right now is the use of the president's power aiming at individuals who don't have my background or experience,' he said. 'My thing, to me and I hope to everyone else, is just a distraction that goes away in a weekend. But there's something much more important going on here — the use of power to aim at individuals, eroding the rule of law.' Last month, Justice Department and FBI officials opened a federal criminal investigation of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who won a $454 million civil fraud judgment against Trump last year, alleging she made false statements on a mortgage application. The Department of Homeland Security said this month that a former federal official who denied Trump's claims of 2020 election fraud, Chris Krebs, is the subject of an unspecified federal law enforcement investigation. And the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has opened an investigation into Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who is now running to be the mayor of New York City, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News late Tuesday. The New York Times was first to report on the probe, which it said focuses on Cuomo's congressional testimony about the pandemic. All deny any wrongdoing. McIver, the New Jersey congresswoman, was charged with two counts of 'assaulting, resisting, and impeding' two federal immigration agents at a protest outside a migrant detention facility in Newark on May 9. She faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison if she is convicted, but sentences are usually well below the maximum. 'It's political intimidation, and I'm looking forward to my day in court,' McIver told reporters Tuesday in Washington. Federal investigations can drag on for years, damaging people's reputations and depleting their finances. 'They can hurt you by investigating you for three years,' said a former federal prosecutor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation. 'The question is do you want to hurt people or convict people?' the former prosecutor added. 'The first thing is easy. The second thing is hard. You need evidence.' Pressed about the Secret Service investigation in his television interview, Comey said the judiciary is the only branch of government left that will protect him from a dubious prosecution. 'I believe in our judiciary,' Comey said. 'I believe in that one remaining leg of our three-legged stool — that independent judiciary — is alive and well, and that gives me great comfort.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
James Comey is back in Trump's crosshairs. This time, it's different.
James Comey, the polarizing former FBI director, walked into a Barnes & Noble in New York City, sat down on a three-legged stool and began to extol the virtues of his new crime novel to the few dozen people who came to his book signing Monday night. Days earlier, he sparked a firestorm on the right — and a Secret Service investigation — when he posted a photo on Instagram that Donald Trump and senior administration officials insist was a call for the assassination of the president. Now Comey, as talkative and confident as ever, was brushing aside the chance that he might face criminal charges. 'They were total pros,' Comey said of the Secret Service agents who interviewed him, adding of the brouhaha: 'Maybe it'll go away.' But while he was signing books, Trump's former defense lawyer Alina Habba, now the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, announced that she has filed criminal charges against Rep. Lamonica McIver, D-N.J., for her actions during a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark. The announcement underscored how differently the Justice Department has operated in the first four months of Trump's second term compared with the first four months of his first term. Trump loyalists — like Habba, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel — hold top law enforcement roles, and this administration has been even more aggressive in targeting political foes, as well as universities and law firms. While Comey downplayed the investigation of his Instagram post as a 'distraction,' the indictment of McIver put into stark relief how he may not be as safe from prosecution — or at least a long-running criminal probe — as he indicated Monday. Trump 'is surrounded by people willing to cater to his worst instincts,' said Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. 'I was no fan of Jeff Sessions or Bill Barr, but it seemed to me that they had some limits,' Somin added, referring to Trump's first-term attorneys general. 'It seems like Pam Bondi has a lot fewer limits.' 'Not my first rodeo' Hours before he showed up at the Barnes & Noble, Comey appeared on MSNBC for his first interview since the Instagram post last Thursday. It showed seashells arranged in the shape of '8647' on the beach. Trump is the 47th president, and 86 can informally mean 'to get rid of,' according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Comey said he never considered that the post would generate controversy. 'I really thought that I was done,' he said. 'I was in another life. I was a grandfather and an author wearing sweaters and jeans and then went for a walk on the beach and posted a silly picture of shells that I thought was a clever way to express a political viewpoint. 'And actually, I still think it is. I don't see it the way some people are still saying it,' Comey added. 'But again, I don't want any part of any violence. I've never been associated with violence, and so that's why I took it down.' Trump fired Comey in 2017 amid the FBI's investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign coordinated with Russia. He was investigated by John Durham, a special counsel appointed during the first Trump administration to investigate the propriety of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe, and he was not charged with a crime. 'It's not my first rodeo,' Comey said. But he did express dismay at the Trump administration's targeting of political opponents. 'One of the real problems we have in this country right now is the use of the president's power aiming at individuals who don't have my background or experience,' he said. 'My thing, to me and I hope to everyone else, is just a distraction that goes away in a weekend. But there's something much more important going on here — the use of power to aim at individuals, eroding the rule of law.' Other investigations Last month, Justice Department and FBI officials opened a federal criminal investigation of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who won a $454 million civil fraud judgment against Trump last year, alleging she made false statements on a mortgage application. The Department of Homeland Security said this month that a former federal official who denied Trump's claims of 2020 election fraud, Chris Krebs, is the subject of an unspecified federal law enforcement investigation. And the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has opened an investigation into Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who is now running to be the mayor of New York City, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News late Tuesday. The New York Times was first to report on the probe, which it said focuses on Cuomo's congressional testimony about the pandemic. All deny any wrongdoing. McIver, the New Jersey congresswoman, was charged with two counts of 'assaulting, resisting, and impeding' two federal immigration agents at a protest outside a migrant detention facility in Newark on May 9. She faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison if she is convicted, but sentences are usually well below the maximum. 'It's political intimidation, and I'm looking forward to my day in court,' McIver told reporters Tuesday in Washington. Federal investigations can drag on for years, damaging people's reputations and depleting their finances. 'They can hurt you by investigating you for three years,' said a former federal prosecutor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation. 'The question is do you want to hurt people or convict people?' the former prosecutor added. 'The first thing is easy. The second thing is hard. You need evidence.' Pressed about the Secret Service investigation in his television interview, Comey said the judiciary is the only branch of government left that will protect him from a dubious prosecution. 'I believe in our judiciary,' Comey said. 'I believe in that one remaining leg of our three-legged stool — that independent judiciary — is alive and well, and that gives me great comfort.'
Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Indian Express
Punjab and Haryana High Court flags ‘bouncer' menace in Punjab, says it's spreading fear
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted anticipatory bail to an accused in a case involving an unlicensed private security agency, even as it raised alarm over the growing 'bouncer' culture in Punjab. The High Court passed the order late last month, and the ruling was uploaded Tuesday. The case was based on a complaint by Jagvir Singh, owner of Jass Security Khanna Agency, who alleged that the accused Taranjeet Singh and his co-accused Roshan Lal ran an unlicensed agency named Fateh Group, and had threatened and defamed him. As per the complaint, 'The petitioner Taranjeet Singh, along with co-accused Roshan Lal, threatened the complainant with dire consequences through mobile phone, and they also used to defame the business of the complainant by posting false stories on Facebook and Instagram.' An inquiry by the deputy superintendent of police (Detective), Khanna, confirmed that Taranjeet Singh and his associate were operating without a licence, in violation of the Punjab Private Security Agency Rules, 2007. While noting that Taranjeet Singh had earlier withdrawn a bail plea due to an undisclosed past FIR under Section 15 of the NDPS Act, the court held there was no need for custodial interrogation. 'This means that if the police were, in fact, interested in arresting the petitioner, they would have done so because they also arrested the co-accused Roshan. Be that as it may, this is not a case where pre-trial custodial interrogation is required or would be justified.' The court granted him anticipatory bail subject to furnishing bonds and cooperating with the investigation. But beyond the bail order, the court's remarks targeted deeper concerns about the abuse of power in the private security sector. Referring to the Fateh Bouncer Security Group, the court observed, 'The paramount concern for this Court is the use of the word 'Bouncer' in 'Fateh Bouncer Security Group.' Incidents like these highlight a disturbing trend where a particular segment of employers and employees, under the guise of a simple job description 'Bouncer,' have started adopting a terrorising and bullying role, becoming too comfortable donning an armour of hostility, aggression and subjecting the citizenry to indignity and humiliation at will, unafraid of any negative consequences, presuming themselves to have unfettered powers over the law.' Quoting dictionary definitions, the court said: 'According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a bouncer is one that bounces: such as (a): one employed to restrain or eject disorderly persons; (b): a bouncing ground ball. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a bouncer is defined as a person employed to eject disorderly persons from a public place, especially a bar or nightclub.' The court noted that the term, as used in Punjab, had come to denote private muscle power beyond legal bounds — 'extra-constitutional authorities' who 'take pride in exuberant arrogance, using threats, intimidation, physical coercion, and brute force as weapons.' Emphasising that the term has no legal backing, the court stated, 'The Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005, does not refer to security guards as 'bouncers.' The security agencies have to employ security guards as per the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005, and in the state of Punjab, also as per the Punjab Private Security Agency Rules, 2007.' It added that the original role of security personnel — to ensure safety and respect — had been perverted, with 'bouncers' now instilling 'fear, anxiety, and terror in the mind of the public and to intimidate others.' The court criticised Punjab for turning a blind eye. 'The State is also aware of how the term 'bouncer' is being used by security agencies to throw around their weight and exert their influence, as explicitly mentioned in this FIR. However, the State chooses to remain unperturbed, unconcerned, and, therefore, insensitive towards such an issue.' It urged the executive to step in, observing, 'It is up to the State to take or not to take any steps to ensure that the term 'Bouncer' is not used by any recovery or security agents or their agencies for their employees so that these security guards/personnel associate their respective roles with respect, dignity and responsibility.'
