Trolls And Snowflakes: Once-Stuffy DC Embraces Tough Slang

The House speaker dismissed the actions of a U.S. president as merely “trolling.” And the nation’s attorney general knocked America’s university students as a bunch of sensitive “snowflakes.”

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The House speaker dismissed the actions of a U.S. president as merely “trolling.” And the nation’s attorney general knocked America’s university students as a bunch of sensitive “snowflakes.”

These terms are hardly new. But President Donald Trump’s presence in Washington has fundamentally changed how politicians are talking in this once-stuffy town that long prided itself on civility and decorum.

A look at the latest political slang making the rounds:

TROLLING

Trolling refers to the practice of incessantly posting nasty words or images online as a way of provoking one’s opponents.

It’s what U.S. intelligence agencies have accused the Russian government of doing on social media leading up to the 2016 election. And it’s what Trump does on Twitter when he posts repeatedly about “Crooked Hillary” Clinton and “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer.”