Merriam-Webster reminds President Trump that he didn't invent 'prime the pump'

In news that few will find surprising, it appears that President Trump did not, in fact, invent the term "prime the pump" as he asserted in a recent interview with the Economist.

Merriam-Webster set the record straight.
The surreptitiously sassy source for questions about language tweeted a thread Thursday morning clarifying the origins of the phrase, which actually dates to the early 19th century.

This is just the latest example this week of Merriam-Webster weighing in on current events.

Searches for the word "atrocity" were up more than 5,200% Wednesday after White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders alleged that fired FBI Director James Comey had committed "basic atrocities" during his tenure, Merriam-Webster reported Wednesday.

President Trump: That all goes into tax reduction. Tremendous savings.

But beyond that it’s OK if the tax plan increases the deficit?
It is OK, because it won’t increase it for long. You may have two years where you’ll…you understand the expression “prime the pump”?

Yes.

We have to prime the pump.

It’s very Keynesian.

We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world. Have you heard that expression before, for this particular type of an event?
Priming the pump?
Yeah, have you heard it?
Yes.
Have you heard that expression used before? Because I haven’t heard it. I mean, I just…I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It’s what you have to do.
It’s…
Yeah, what you have to do is you have to put something in before you can get something out.