This is What’s Trending Today.
Donald Trump sent out one of his most popular tweets as president just after midnight on Wednesday. It was not about jobs or “fake news.”
It was about “constant negative press covfefe.”
It was retweeted and liked hundreds of thousands of times before he deleted it around 6:00 in the morning.
Suddenly, social media was filled with people wondering how to pronounce the word. And others tried to figure out what it meant.
President Donald Trump awaits the arrival of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Some people thought President Trump was in the middle of writing a message and sent it by accident.
Later on Wednesday morning, Trump wrote: “Who can figure out the true meaning of “covfefe”??? Enjoy!”
The dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster has been known to correct Trump’s misspellings and mis-use of words on Twitter. With this latest “covfefe,” someone who writes tweets for the dictionary publisher wrote: “Wakes up. Checks Twitter… Uh…Regrets checking Twitter. Goes back to bed.”
Based on the context, many thought it should have been “coverage,” instead of “covfefe.”
But that did not stop people from teasing Trump about the tweet.
The New York Times opinion writer Charles M. Blow wrote: “And just before you serve it, you hit it with a dash of #Covfefe.”
Blow included a video that appears to show Trump adding a dash of salt to food.
Other people thought “covfefe” might be a good replacement for product names. One person wrote “Don’t talk to me before my morning ‘covfefe.'”
Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel, a comedian who writes jokes for a living, was sad about “covfefe.” He wrote: “I’ll never write anything funnier than #covfefe.”
Some people replaced words from famous songs with the new word “covfefe.”
Others created new Twitter profiles with the word “covfefe,” including those of a fictional wizard and warrior. The two got into a Twitter battle with each other, each saying they were the ones “summoned” by Trump’s tweet.
And that’s What’s Trending Today.
I’m Dan Friedell.
Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
What do you think “covfefe” means? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on WWW.VOA-STORY.COM
_____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
figure out – v. to understand or find (something, such as a reason or a solution) by thinking
context – n. the words that are used with a certain word or phrase and that help to explain its meaning
dash – n. a small amount of something that is added to something else — usually singular
comedian – n. a person who performs in front of an audience and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting in a way that is funny : an actor who plays roles that make people laugh
summon – v. to order (someone) to come to a place