FLYTING. The kind of bragging that Trump uses has received its own term from linguists. Jeet Heer quotes Father Ong: “Standard in oral societies across the world, reciprocal name-calling has been fitted with a specific name in linguistics: flyting (or fliting).â€
Heer gives examples of flyting. David says to Goliath: “I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals…†Heer comments: “Or to translate it into the language of Donald Trump: Goliath is a total loser.”