Merriam-Webster doesn't have time for Kellyanne Conway's nonsense

Words -- and facts -- matter.
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary is back at it, weighing in on the latest political doublespeak coming from President Donald Trump and his aides.

This time, it's putting spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway on blast for her "alternative facts" claim.

On Sunday, following Conway's ludicrous statement regarding the Trump administration's inauguration attendance claim, the dictionary tweeted out the following as the word "fact" was trending on its site.

There's a lot going on here to unpack.

  • The use of the word "objective" immediately undermines Conway's statement, which suggests facts are subjective. They are not.

  • The description of the article straight-up calls out Conway for trying to pass off "false statements."

  • In said linked post, the writer says, "fact is generally understood to refer to something with actual existence," implying that, once again, Conway's magical "alternative facts" present information that doesn't exist.

That's pretty mighty for a dictionary but given these are the same people that called 2016 "surreal," it's not totally unexpected. The dictionary also relayed the fears of a Trump presidency based on searches and kept its Twitter game strong during the debates and Election Day.

Twitter was impressed.

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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