--- title: Merriam Webster Trolls Dinosaur T. Rex on Twitter description: Merriam Webster just eliminated a T. Rex in a Twitter feud between the dictionary and the exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum. canonical: https://time.com/4816247/merriam-webster-dinosaur-troll/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-13T15:38:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:44:26.433Z og:title: This T. Rex Should Never Have Trolled Merriam Webster og:description: "We're out of your reach" og:url: https://time.com/4816247/merriam-webster-dinosaur-troll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This T. Rex Should Never Have Trolled Merriam Webster twitter:description: "We're out of your reach" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Merriam-Webster Just Schooled This Dinosaur in an Ill-Advised Twitter Feud by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 13, 2017 3:38 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 13, 2017 3:38 PM UTC [Merriam Webster](http://time.com/4774687/merriam-webster-dictionary-politics-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/) has carved out a distinct niche on social media as a swift [political commentator](http://time.com/4743660/donald-trump-dictionary-words-poll-merriam-webster/) on Twitter. It’s latest target, however, was not a politician, but an extinct animal. The animal in question, SUE the T.rex, is part of an exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum. The short-lived Twitter battle began Monday, when the dinosaur’s publicity account posed a poll to the Internet: what type of fresh dinosaur content would followers like the account to post? Out of all the possible poll responses, “Random feuds” edged out “Velociraptor hatin'” as the winner. > [](https://twitter.com/SUEtheTrex/status/874089686796562432) And so it was on. The social media team behind the Tyrannosaurus handle selected a target: Merriam Webster. The dictionary? Yes, the dictionary. The account, which rolls deep with 526,000 followers, boasts a [witty sense of humor](http://motto.time.com/4729330/merriam-webster-social-media-team-donald-trump/) and has the ability to make headlines on the daily with a single well-timed tweet. The world’s largest dinosaur, the T. Rex is a fearsome, meat-eating creature with nearly 26,000 followers to its name. But it was still no match for the social media team at Merriam Webster. > [](https://twitter.com/SUEtheTrex/status/874242192906358786) Suffice it to say that the dinosaur promptly got owned when Merriam Webster clapped back with the facts about the proportion of the Rex’s arms. > [](https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/874337759372210177) The internet was quick to react as the two accounts went tweet to tweet. > [](https://twitter.com/Jessica%5Fin%5FIowa/status/874342822903779328) > [](https://twitter.com/DrJoeHanson/status/874372273393807365) > [](https://twitter.com/SUEtheTrex/status/874359133721513985) > [](https://twitter.com/AstronomerEric/status/874409263719960582) The museum retweeted one user’s observation that, in fairness, it was a dictionary’s game. > [](https://twitter.com/AggleDetector/status/874362888613486597) And made up for its public loss with a joke. > [](https://twitter.com/SUEtheTrex/status/874601078133805056) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4816247/merriam-webster-dinosaur-troll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4816247/merriam-webster-dinosaur-troll/"},"headline":"Merriam-Webster Just Schooled This Dinosaur in an Ill-Advised Twitter Feud","datePublished":"2017-06-13T15:38:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:44:26.433Z","description":"Merriam Webster just eliminated a T. 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