Word choices
Re: I misspoke on Russian meddling, Trump says, July 18
It is noteworthy that President Trump claims he needed to look at a transcript to understand why everyone was so upset about what he said at the press conference with Putin. Trump may be suffering from some form of verbal dyslexia where statements don’t come out quite the way he intends them. This may be compounded by excessive politeness where he is reluctant to say negative things about people he admires such as Putin.
I am particularly worried about whether he accidentally left out any nos or nots in his private meeting with Putin and simply forgets this.
Perhaps when he is having a private meeting with a foreign leader he should take along a language coach or monitor to correct his slips. “Mr. President, I believe you intended a ‘not’ in your previous sentence.” “Thank you, Mike (or Jared or John) I’m glad you caught my mistake.”
If he remembers any such mistakes from his recent meeting in Helsinki, he should immediately communicate them to Putin. The worst that can happen is that Putin will ask for the return of his gift soccer ball. Bruce Couchman, Ottawa “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is a reference to a famous line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, about two fighting houses. English is a beautiful language spoken by billions, although it appears to be beyond some to speak it precisely.
There is a significant difference between would and wouldn’t, although the difference between impeachment and impeached may only be a matter of time Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia