Trending: ‘nationalism,’ ‘nationalist’

Lookups spiked 8,000% on October 22nd and 23rd, 2018

Why are people looking up the words nationalism and nationalist?

At a Texas rally on October 22nd, 2018, President Trump announced the following:

“You know, they have a word — it’s sort of became old-fashioned — it’s called a ‘nationalist.' And I say, really, we’re not supposed to use that word. You know what I am? I’m a nationalist, okay? I’m a nationalist. Nationalist. Nothing wrong. Use that word. Use that word.”

What do the words nationalism and nationalist mean?

Nationalism is defined as "loyalty and devotion to a nation," especially "exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups."

A nationalist is one who advocates for or believes in such.

Where do the words nationalism and nationalist come from?

Nationalism has a number of near-synonyms, each of which carries its own distinct meaning. Patriotism is similar in that it emphasizes strong feelings for one’s country, but does not necessarily imply an attitude of superiority. Jingoism closely resembles nationalism in its suggestions of cultural superiority, but with implications of military aggressiveness.

For a deeper look at the shared history of nationalism and patriotism, go here.

Trend Watch is a data-driven report on words people are looking up at much higher search rates than normal. While most trends can be traced back to the news or popular culture, our focus is on the lookup data rather than the events themselves.