Trump Used His Favorite Yiddish Word Before

The word of the day is clearly "schlonged," as used in a sentence by Donald Trump referring to Hillary Clinton in 2008: "She was favored to win, and she got schlonged." The Yiddish word is, as the New York Times explains, "a boorish word for penis." Some of the resulting coverage:

• All about the word: The Washington Post conducts a "linguistic investigation" into the term and sums up Trump's problem: "He’s a gentile who, linguistically, may have wandered too far from home." It also notes that he's used it before, in 2011, referring to the defeat of female House candidate Jane Corwin: “I watched a popular Republican woman not only lose but get schlonged."
• Coverage: Mediaite looks at how the story was covered and the "weird gray area" for journalists worried about being offensive; it notes that Fox News bleeped the word out in early coverage.
• Team Clinton: “We are not responding to Trump but everyone who understands the humiliation this degrading language inflicts on all women should," tweeted communications chief Jennifer Palmieri.
• Team Trump: “I think he was meaning, like, slung to the ground, slung around," spokesperson Katrina Pierson said on CNN. “Are we really talking about the definition of a word?” And: “What does schlonged mean then?" she asked as another panel member objected. "Why don’t you tell me what schlonged means.”

• From the right: "This crass and classless stream of consciousness might delight the true Clinton haters, but it’s not going to improve views of Trump among other voters," writes Ed Morrissey at the conservative Hot Air blog. "It will give Team Hillary even more openings to play the victim card after Republicans successfully defused the War on Women meme in 2014."
• From the left: "I don’t see it working against Hillary Clinton," writes Joan Walsh at the Nation. "Already, in his very first real jabs at her, he’s gone too far—at least for a general electorate." In November, young voters and minorities "won't thrill to his crude insults."
• From the trail: Ted Cruz wasn't among those criticizing Trump, notes the Dallas Morning News. No need to "assess every comment every candidate makes," he said. “I don’t need to be another political pundit. I’m going to let Donald Trump speak for himself."

(More Donald Trump 2016 stories.)