"trump up" = inflate

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon Apr 14 14:24:17 UTC 2008


At 7:15 AM -0700 4/14/08, James Smith wrote:
>--- Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>
>>  A Fox News correspondent reports that even as the
>>  "Obama camp" tries to minimize his recent comment
>>  about bitterness in Pennsylvania, the "Clinton camp
>>  is trying to trump up the statement."
>
>Or trying to make something out of nothing, ala
>trumped-up charges.

Good point; I knew there was another possible influence besides "ramp
up" but couldn't think what.  So one question is whether the use of
"trump(ing) up X" may be signaling that the user considers the move
unjustified or exaggerated.

LH

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