On coming trumps and trumpery

So, truly now the North American continent is ruled by the Tru-s: Trump and Trudeau. Truth be told, it's a tad tough to come to terms with this truism. I mean, while Canada's PM Justin Trudeau seems to be just a great guy, mingling with and understanding hoi polloi (the masses, Greek) and all, it's the USA's Trump that tries one's trust on truce triumphing. 

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After all, none can deny the truth that far-reaching tremors can be triggered by the former television show host's tenets, terms and treaties. A truculent (aggressively defiant) Donald Trump can wreak havoc if he is not hindered in his chaotic racism and divisive ideas. The billionaire President can be trusted to turn the tried and tested cart over with his customary brashness. 

As he trudges (walk heavily) along in the Oval Office, the world's highest office, he will have to truncate (prune) his extremist views of "America first" to moderation if he does not want his four years to be truncated by a possible impeachment that many of his detractors foresee. Incidentally, one of the first changes he made in the Oval was cosmetic, but subtle: Trump reinstalled the bust of Churchill that Obama had removed. For the good of the world at large, let us hope that President Trump, in his bid to make America great again, does not trample upon the non-Americans by wielding the truncheon (a staff or baton acting as a symbol of authority) too wildly. Like his Trump Towers, he must stand tall in politics too. Though not a trueborn politician, this real estate mogul, in his new-found responsibility, must not slip into trumpery on the world stage just as he came trumps (have a better performance or outcome than expected) in his country. Only then would he be a truepenny (an honest and trustworthy person).

I truly realised the importance of a trump card, however small its face value, when I was learning to play bridge and other card games for a short while. I remember feeling a sense of achievement when I got the hang of the game and for the first time trumped my opponent's ace to win the trick. Truthfully, it is quite a mind game and a good exercise to staying alert. A trump card is a playing card of the suit chosen to rank above the others, which can win a trick where a card of a different suit has been led. And, no gainsaying that a smart player uses the trump card as a decisive overriding factor or final resource - in all games of life. 

Trump comes from Middle English trompe, from Anglo-French trumpe, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German trumba, trumpa (trumpet). Perhaps, it is also related to our Indian tumba (a stringed musical instrument)? From here flows the phrase 'to blow one's own trumpet' (to boast of one's own skills or good qualities). 

Logically, if trump means to be a dependable and exemplary person or to do better than someone in a contest etc, then trumpery should flow from it to mean something equally positive? But I am not trumping something up (to invent a false accusation or excuse) when I say that trumpery has a negative connotation. It implies showy but worthless things, or falsehood, empty talk. 

Trump's detractors slamming him about his wind-blown side-swept combed-over hair would qualify as trumpery. There was much trolling about his tresses, most terming it a toupee or wig. So much so that when there was a fear of rain during his Inaugural Address on Friday, Trump was not stumped. Instead, he said: "The truth is if it really pours, that's OK because people will realise it's my real hair and that's okay."

That's ok, but he will still have to live with the reality that two newfound animals have been named after him for their likeness to his famous coiffure!

A new species of moth with a wave of yellowish-white scales that cascade forward from its head has been named Neopalpa donaldtrumpi as its head of gold has an uncanny resemblance to Trump's hair. 

Then, deep in the Peruvian Amazon jungles explorer, Jeff Cremer discovered a flannel moth caterpillar (Megalopyge opercularis) that sports fluffy, orange tufts that are strikingly similar to Trump's hairdo. The caterpillar was immediately pilloried as 'Trumpapillar!' And the last word goes to the troll who said that Donald Trump had filed a lawsuit against the caterpillar which is known to be extremely irritating to humans! 

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