Neologist-in-Chief? Donald Trump Coins "Covfefe" and Social Media Erupts

Move over "bigly," step aside “braggadocious” there's a new, tremendous, really, really beautiful Trumpism in town.

William Shakespeare was famed for coining new words to the English language. Indeed, the Bard came up with more than 1,000 new words over his lifetime, adding a richness and variety to the lexicon.

Donald Trump, most would agree, is no Shakespeare.

But the president, more by accident than by design, has become something of a neologist himself, having given the world "bigly" and "braggadocious" — and now, a new gem in "covfefe." Late on Tuesday, Trump began tweeting what appeared to be another attack on the press but seemingly got distracted halfway, only managing to tweet the words "[d]espite the constant negative press" before ending proceedings with the typo "covfefe."

Or was it a typo? After all, he did say, "I know words. I have the best words"

After two hours the tweet was still sitting there proudly atop the president's personal Twitter feed, with no correction or explanation. Almost inevitably, Twitter users jumped on the rogue word and thus began a deluge of mockery with "covfefe" quickly trending worldwide.

Early Wednesday morning, though, the president seemed to notice his mistake and deleted the original tweet, replacing it with one poking fun at his mistake: "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe'??? Enjoy!" Overnight, though, plenty of Hollywood stars were happy to come up with possible meanings for the word. And Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary publisher both got in on the act, with the accounts for those publications posting tweets reflecting the confusion. There was even a @covfefe Twitter account created.

At an off-camera press gaggle on Wednesday, Sean Spicer defended the tweet, responding with a "no," when asked if "people should be concerned that the president posted somewhat of an incoherent tweet last night." When asked why the misspelled tweet stayed up for nearly six hours before the president deleted it, Spicer said, "The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant." Reporters, who could be heard laughing at Spicer's response, then tried to get the press secretary to define "covfefe," but he moved on.

Spicer on 'covfefe' tweet: "The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant." https://t.co/URM4mW8pmO — MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 31, 2017

Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017

I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Covfefe. — Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 31, 2017

i agree - covfefe must be stopped - first isis - then covfefe - they are dangerous - i know it - u know it - people are saying it COVFEFE https://t.co/G4dVjbExWu — ROSIE (@Rosie) May 31, 2017

Who would have thought that covfefe would be the thing that finally brought us all together? — elan gale (@theyearofelan) May 31, 2017

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens,

Little Covfefes & bigly Covfefes! #Covfefe — Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) May 31, 2017

Well you've got me there. I have to agree with you. #covfefe https://t.co/n6U5KGSfHz — Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 31, 2017

Things are really bad when your own thumbs impeach you. #covfefe https://t.co/VTeB3PCOAo — Orlando Jones (@TheOrlandoJones) May 31, 2017

We were somewhere around Barstow, when the #covfefe began to kick in... pic.twitter.com/0NzazIL8Zx — Mike Gorman (@MikeGormanHFX) May 31, 2017

Can you paint with all the #Covfefe of the wind pic.twitter.com/qNanPOo4lA — ??????? (@8IronButterfly8) May 31, 2017

Wakes up.

Checks Twitter.

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Uh...

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Lookups fo...

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Regrets checking Twitter.

Goes back to bed. — Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) May 31, 2017

May 31, 4:41 a.m. This story has been updated to reflect the president deleting his original tweet and acknowledging the "covfefe" frenzy.