[Ads-l] diplotainment ...

David K. Barnhart dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM
Mon May 21 14:19:52 UTC 2018


 

diplotainment, n. {w}  diplomatic proceedings which appear humorous or
entertaining, especially to one's critics.  Nonstandard (used in slang
contexts dealing especially with international politics; frequency?)

 

"President Trump has forged a new category of international relations that I
would call 'diplotainment,' and the Singapore meeting is going to
demonstrate diplotainment at its pinnacle," said Daniel Russel, who served
as senior Asia director at the National Security Council under President
Barack Obama.  David Nakamura, "Style vs. substance in summit planning," The
Washington Post (Nexis), May 17, 2018, p A01

 

FROM LAMBASTING the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran to embracing the
opening of a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem - while also racing to tweet-announce
a now-imperiled nuclear summit with North Korea - President Trump's brand of
showmanship as global diplomacy (a.k.a. "diplotainment") has been on
full-plumage display. Michael Cavna, "How the world's cartoonists are
skewering Trump's global diplomacy," The Washington Post (Google News), May
18, 2018,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/05/18/how-the-worlds
-cartoonists-are-skewering-trumps-global-diplomacy/?utm_term=.9317e927a874

 

The word of the day is "diplotainment," a new brand of international
relations focused more on crowd size than on achieving real objectives.
According to Daniel Russel, who served as senior Asia director at the
National Security Council under President Barack Obama, that's exactly what
Donald Trump excels in, with the upcoming summit with North Korea - if it
happens - being "diplotainment at its pinnacle."  "Morning Brief:
Diplotainment and playing defence," iPolitics (Google News), May 17, 2018

https://ipolitics.ca/2018/05/17/morning-brief-diplotainment-and-playing-defe
nce/

 

Conservative columnist and never-Trumper Jennifer Rubin says the whole
debacle is making Trump look like a gullible fool. Politico on how new
national security adviser John Bolton is tarnishing POTUS' prospects for the
Nobel. WaPo explores Trump's brand of  "diplotainment," as one former Obama
staffer put it.  Sam Brodey, "D.C. Memo: D.C. Memo: Ellison called out for
pro-immigrant T-shirt; not called out for cargo shorts," MinnPost
[Minneapolis, Minn.] (Google), May 18, 2018

https://www.minnpost.com/dc-memo/2018/05/dc-memo-ellison-called-out-pro-immi
grant-t-shirt-not-called-out-cargo-shorts

 

[2009?]  Composite (compound): formed from diplo(macy) (BDE: 1796), +
(enter)tainment (eOED: 1612), meaning "amusement," as in shoppertainment (DC
14.1: 2003) and exploitainment (DC 16.1: 2003) and infotainment (BDNE3:
1985; eOED: 1980) and docutainnemt (DC 4.3 and BDNE3: 1983).

 

 


------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list