The Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Twitter account is well-versed in shade.
On Friday, Merriam-Webster seemingly mocked President Donald Trump on Twitter after he incorrectly referred to an apostrophe as a hyphen in a tweet aimed at California congressman and House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Adam Schiff.
“For those looking up punctuation early on a Friday morning: A hyphen is a mark – used to divide or to compound words. An apostrophe is a mark ‘ used to indicate the omission of letters or figures,” the Merriam-Webster tweet read.
For those looking up punctuation early on a Friday morning:
A hyphen is a mark – used to divide or to compound words.
An apostrophe is a mark ' used to indicate the omission of letters or figures.— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 27, 2019
Trump took to Twitter earlier in the day to argue that the media, namely CNN, had removed an apostrophe — Trump called it a hyphen — from a phrase he used: “Corrupt Congressman Liddle’ Adam Schiff.” He added that CNN did this to purposefully say that he misspelled the word “little.”
Trump’s tweet read: “To show you how dishonest the LameStream Media is, I used the word Liddle’, not Liddle, in discribing [sic] Corrupt Congressman Liddle’ Adam Schiff. Low ratings @CNN purposely took the hyphen out and said I spelled the word little wrong. A small but never ending situation with CNN!”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1177539052683309056
Despite being schooled by Merriam-Webster about how to use an apostrophe, Trump again referenced “Liddle’ Adam Schiff” in another tweet Saturday evening. One Twitter follower replied, “its “li’l,” you ludicrous goofus.” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary doesn’t have a definition for the word “liddle,” btw.
The president let loose a slew of tweets early Friday aimed at Democrats in the House after Nancy Pelosi announced earlier in the week that they would open an official impeachment inquiry into the president over his contacts with the president of Ukraine.
Democrats have accused Trump of using his office to pressure Ukraine’s president to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, who is among the top candidates for the presidential race in 2020.