adverbs - What does Donald Trump mean by "bigly"?


The Presidential candidate seems to have resurrected the adverb bigly, the most recent example of which that the OED is able to quote being from 1927.


I am, though just wondering in which sense he was using it. The OED has two senses:


1)With great force; firmly, violently; (also) stoutly, strongly, the most recent example from 1913.


2)Loudly, boastfully; proudly, haughtily, pompously., the most recent example from 1927.


The Seattle Times quotes Susan Lin, an assistant professor in linguistics at the University of California-Berkeley [as saying]that people who study sounds used in speech have determined Trump is actually saying “big league”: note the velar pinch and the stop closure/burst.


What does Mr Trump mean by bigly or big league? I think we should be told.




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