"trump up" = inflate

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Apr 14, 2008, at 8:50 AM, Joel Berson wrote:

> At 4/14/2008 11:04 AM, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
>> i also suspect that most people here are unfamiliar with the
>> 'inflate,
>> blow up, exaggerate' sense of "trump up"; for most of us, it looks
>> like an innovation (or a survival, or a previously unencountered
>> dialect item).  the comments so far suggest that it's a combo (of
>> some
>> sort) of the widespread "trump up" 'invent' and "trumpet", perhaps
>> influenced by by some other V+"up" combinations.
>
> "Trumped up excuse/charges" is familiar and not new for me, with the
> sense of "invented, exaggerated".  I associate it with the "trump
> v.3" of card-playing.

yes, and i said exactly that, just before the material you cite above
(in which the "also suspect" refers back to this earlier material).
to repeat:

i suspect that everyone here has the sense of "trump up" that you do
-- OED's 'to get up or devise in an unscupulous way; to forge,
fabricate, invent'.  especially common in the adjective "trumped-up",
as in a trumped-up story or charge.  (the OED derives this verb
"trump" from the noun "trump" as used in card-playing, but it admits
that the development of some of its senses is unclear.)  other
dictionaries have similar definitions for "trump up".

[note: i suspect that everyone here has this sense, and said so, i
think very clearly.  we don't really need to have a poll of people who
have this sense.]

arnold

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