TIL that in the 1860s one meaning of "Trump" was "A good fellow; an excellent person".
TIL that in the 1860s one meaning of "Trump" was "A good fellow; an excellent person".
archive.org
An American dictionary of the English language : Webster, Noah, 1758-1843 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Maybe the "great" America that Donald wants to take us back to is the 1860s?
The one a little bit further down - "Trumpery" meaning "Deceit; fraud" - needs to make a comeback.
Or even better "Worthless or deceptive in character". (Which, basically, has already made a comeback.)
It's pretty interesting how Trump ("an excellent person") and Trumpery ("Worthless or deceptive in character") could both be in use at the same time, unless it was some kind of opposite-slang.
Hasn't it, though?
Isn't that what the common meaning is today?
This is the trump version I'm most familiar with.