‘Logorrhea,’ ‘xenophobia’ among top searches following first presidential debate

The makers of the Merriam-Webster dictionary said that inquiries about words and phrases including “logorrhea,” “xenophobia,” “white supremacist” and more surged during and after the first presidential debate on Tuesday between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Searches for the term “logorrhea,” which is defined as “excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness,” spiked after MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow used it following the contentious debate, during which the president was repeatedly asked by moderator Chris Wallace to let his opponent speak. His barbs led some social media users to call for a “mute button.” 

“Will you shut up, man,” Biden told Trump during the debate, a phrase that his campaign later turned into a T-shirt.

The word “shush” was also among the top lookups during the debate after Biden asked, “Will he just shush for a minute?”  

Questions about “xenophobia” followed the president pointing out that Biden called him xenophobic for the travel restrictions his administration implemented early in the coronavirus pandemic.

Rising now: ‘xenophobia’ #Debates2020 https://t.co/hfGB0ywaOD

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 29, 2020

The words “white supremacist,” “antifa,” “petulant” and others also surged following the debate. 

Post-debate rankings:

white supremacist
antifa
petulant
fascism
debate
racism
systemic
poll watcher
moderator
equity
bully
standby

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 29, 2020

Trump refused to denounce white supremacy when directly asked to do so during the debate.

“Almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing,” he said.

Trump also lashed out at the left-wing anti-fascist movement known as antifa.

“Somebody has got to do something about antifa and the left because this isn’t a right-wing problem, this is a left-wing problem,” Trump said.

The former vice president noted in response that FBI Director Christopher Wray has said antifa is not a formal organization, but an ideology.