‘When does debate end?’ Viewers search ‘malarkey’ and other terms during last showdown
A few words Donald Trump and Joe Biden exchanged during the final presidential debate Thursday night seemed to catch the attention of the American public — namely those who weren’t quite sure what they meant. There were also viewers who wanted to know when the 90-minute confab would end.
The Twitter pages of Merriam Webster and Dictionary.com spent much of the evening tracking and tweeting the words viewers were looking up in the dictionary during what The Week described as a “shockingly civil end to the 2020 campaign.” Google Trends, meanwhile, was monitoring what people were searching.
There were the usual inquiries related to the candidates and issues relevant to the election, such as unemployment, health care and wages.
But right around 10:30 p.m. ET — an hour and a half after the show began as debate fatigue set in — there was also a 3,050% spike in the search phrase “when does debate end.” To which reporter AJ Perez replied, “Answer: Not soon enough.”
The 90 minutes of discourse that preceded that telling question, however, were filled with intrigue, according to the list of words Merriam Webster highlighted as the “top #Debate2020 lookups” at the end of the night.
They were as follows:
xenophobia
wherewithal
fracking
ether
thug
malarkey
By 7 a.m. Friday morning, “malarkey,” “wherewithal” and newcomer “dog whistle” were still trending searches, according to Dictionary.com.
How they were used, and what they mean (for those still wondering)
1. Xenophobia: “an aversion or hostility to, disdain for, or fear of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers,” according to Dictionary.com.
The words “xenophobic” and “xenophobia” were thrown around a few times last night, namely in discussing the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said Biden called him xenophobic for shutting down the border with China. Biden said Trump is xenophobic, but said it had nothing to do with China.
“I talked about his xenophobia in a different context,” Biden said. “It wasn’t about closing the border to Chinese coming to the United States.”
2. Wherewithal: “means or resources,” according to Merriam Webster.
Biden used “wherewithal” twice during the presidential debate — first while explaining how he plans to lead the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic and again when he discussed how he intends to build on Obamacare.
“I would make sure that we set up national standards as to how to open up schools and open up businesses so they can be safe, and give them the wherewithal and financial resources to be able to do that,” he said.
3. Fracking: “the injection of fluid into shale beds at high pressure in order to free up petroleum resources (such as oil or natural gas),” according to Merriam Webster.
Trump brought up fracking in response to a question about whether Biden is pushing for socialized medicine.
“You’re going to have socialized medicine, just like you want it with fracking,” he said to Biden. “’We’re not going to have fracking. We’re going to stop fracking. We’re going to stop fracking.’ Then he goes to Pennsylvania after he gets a nomination, where he got very lucky to get it. And he goes to Pennsylvania, and he says, ‘Oh, we’re going to have fracking.’”
4. Ether: “the upper regions of space; the clear sky; the heavens,” according to Dictionary.com.
Biden used the word “ether” to describe certain aspects of Trump’s healthcare plan.
“We’re going to make sure we’re in a situation that we actually protect pre-existing,” he said. “There’s no way he can protect pre-existing conditions. None, zero. You can’t do it in the ether. He’s been talking about this for a long time. He’s never come up with a plan.”
5. Thug: “a violent, lawless, or vicious person, especially one who commits a crime such as assault, robbery, or murder,” according to Dictionary.com.
Biden referred to North Korea and its dictator, Kim Jong-un, as well as China and Russia as thugs during the debate.
“He embraces guys like the thugs, like in North Korea and the Chinese president and Putin and others,” Biden said of Trump’s interactions with foreign leaders after COVID-19 broke out.
He used it again when asked about how he would prevent North Korea from further developing its nuclear program.
“What has he done? He’s legitimized North Korea. He’s talked about his good buddy, who’s a thug, a thug,” Biden said. “And he talks about how we’re better off. And they have much more capable missiles, able to reach U.S. territory much more easily than they ever did before.”
6. Malarkey: “insincere or foolish talk; bunkum,” according to Merriam Webster.
It’s a particular favorite of Biden’s, Merriam Webster said after the debate, pointing to the number of times it trended online in the last several years — “always as the result of Biden’s use.”
But Biden only used it once in the final debate, after Trump talked about the interactions Biden’s family, namely his son, has had with China.
“My response is, look, there’s a reason why he’s bringing up all this malarkey,” Biden said. “There’s a reason for it. He doesn’t want to talk about the substantive issues. It’s not about his family and my family. It’s about your family, and your family’s hurting badly. If you’re a middle-class family, you’re getting hurt badly right now.”
