Politicians talk a lot. Foibles are inevitable. But the word that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently uttered on live television during a coronavirus update really got the internet fired up. During what has become a daily briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic outside his home in Ottawa, Trudeau was speaking to the importance of wearing a face mask in public. “It prevents you from breathing or speaking…moistly,” he said.
Moistly. We know exactly what he means in this context, but the term could be so easily misinterpreted…or perverted. To Trudeau’s credit, as soon as the word left his appropriately moist lips, he admitted, “Ugh…what a terrible image.”
Of course, Twitter lost its shit over the poorly chosen adverb. Here’s just a sampling of the funny takes on the PM’s faux pas:
i mean, he’s moistly right https://t.co/sd2GgNxESG
— José Albornoz (@eljojo) April 7, 2020
Justin Trudeau makes me feel moistly. pic.twitter.com/ivHvxyobL1
— Mike The Canstralian (@aussieinTO) April 7, 2020
Justin Trudeau can talk moistly to me anytime pic.twitter.com/myJVXQylJb
— Matt Campbell (@mattCH_) April 7, 2020
Permission to speak moistly
— hbomberguy (@Hbomberguy) April 7, 2020
Q. How’s the Prime Minister doing in responding to the pandemic?
A. Moistly well.#speakingmoistly pic.twitter.com/FrKpHXibaH— Scott Piatkowski (@ScottPiatkowski) April 7, 2020
“They moistly come at night…moistly” pic.twitter.com/NNzPfnnWHS
— Tony Binns (@TonyBinns) April 7, 2020
Imagine how wonderful it would be to live in a country where the most embarrassing thing your national leader said on any given day was “moistly.” https://t.co/Ij1BniZOlT
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) April 7, 2020
The term #moistly is probably the only good this to come out of 2020 so far.
— Mr.Morin (@MrMorin2) April 8, 2020
You have to love a leader whose public slips of the tongue are not only harmless, but funny — and someone who’s man enough to admit he made a mistake. If “moistly” doesn’t become Merriam-Webster’s word of the year, we’re going to write them a moistly-worded letter.
Cover Photo: DAVE CHAN / Contributor (Getty Images)
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