Can a Clown Candidate Project Presidential Poise?

Bill and George on Trump’s latest mayhem…

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George: Terminally ill people “stay alive long enough to vote for me”. And talking to himself, "We're going to be nice and cool, nice and cool, stay on point, Donald, stay on point," during a rally. "No sidetracks Donald, nice and easy."

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Bill: This is a candidate who is presidential material? One who asks dying people to forget their suffering and go vote  just to gratify his ego? One whose inner speech comes out in muttered public ramblings?

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George: So what is “being presidential” all about? You had it. I had it. This clown doesn’t.

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Bill: Calmness over becoming hysterical. Politeness over being insulting. Subtle but not simplistic. Witty, not clownish.

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Voice-over

It is a time to be fearful when swathes of the U.S. population vote not for someone fit for the job of president but who triggers their hate.

As John Kerry says, it’s “downright embarrassing” to have a presidential candidate who doesn’t even acknowledge climate change and that the presidential contest has been “a humiliating time for America”.

Barack Obama goes further and says the “fate of the world” is at risk if Trump takes over.

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Insulting is a delicate art

Lori’s English is pretty good but she has a problem with an exam question and seeks a native speaker colleague’s advice.

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Lori: Here’s the question: "She plays [ ] a professional than an amateur." The correct answer is “She plays [more like] a professional than an amateur.” Can you say “She plays [less like] a professional than an amateur”?

Larry: Sounds funny.

Lori: But is it grammatically wrong?

Larry: Guess not, but a native speaker wouldn’t say it.

Lori: Why?

Larry: Much more likely to describe the "amateur" much more fully, justify it. Like “She plays less like a professional than an out of practice amateur. Praising is easy. “You did well.” Insulting is a delicate art, if I say to someone, “You’re a pig,” I'm being boorish and pulling myself down to the level I perceive them to be at. Effective insults require ornamentation and embellishment. Saying something like, “Your manners would offend Orwell’s porcine communists,” elevates you to some perch above the person being put down.

Lori: Then we'll have to justify [more like] and disallow [less like] through data from a concordancer?

Larry: Yup. And claim the item is testing competence in insult protocols, not grammar.

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Voiceover

Devising exam questions which purport to test purely grammar is very difficult. Without contextual background such as knowing who is speaking or writing, multiple correct answers are possible.

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