--- title: Comey Testimony: Merriam-Webster Defines Lordy, Trump Tapes description: Merriam Webster defined James Comey's word "lordy" from James Comey's testimony before the Senate. canonical: https://time.com/4810999/james-comey-testimony-merriam-webster-lordy/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-08T16:57:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:44:18.457Z og:title: Merriam-Webster Illuminates James Comey's Trump Tapes Comment og:description: James Comey: "Lordy" Merriam-Webster: We got this og:url: https://time.com/4810999/james-comey-testimony-merriam-webster-lordy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab5931ddaaf860b7/6988d0cb0b72e307c06ee277/jame-comey-fbi-testimony-washington-dc-002.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-INTELLIGENCE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Merriam-Webster Illuminates James Comey's Trump Tapes Comment twitter:description: James Comey: "Lordy" Merriam-Webster: We got this twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab5931ddaaf860b7/6988d0cb0b72e307c06ee277/jame-comey-fbi-testimony-washington-dc-002.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # James Comey Said 'Lordy.' So Merriam-Webster Weighed In by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 8, 2017 4:57 PM UTC  Former FBI Director James Comey takes the oath before he testifies during a US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 8, 2017. Former FBI Director James Comey takes the oath before he testifies during a US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 8, 2017.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 8, 2017 4:57 PM UTC As former FBI Chief [James Comey](http://time.com/4810883/comey-testimony-donald-trump-obstruction-of-justice/) testified before the [Senate Intelligence Committee](http://time.com/4809228/comey-testimony-donald-trump/?xid=homepage) on Thursday, Merriam-Webster supplied the definition for his most colloquial word yet: “lordy.” James Comey said Thursday: “Lordy, I hope there are tapes” referencing President Donald Trump’s tweet about the possibility that his [conversations with Comey were recorded](http://time.com/donald-trump-after-hours/), appearing to suggest they would substantiate his testimony at the widely viewed hearing. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473) Merriam-Webster came through in response to a query from BuzzFeed’s writer J. Lester Feder about the word “lordy,” which the reference defines as a word “used to express surprise or strength of feeling.” > [](https://twitter.com/jlfeder/status/872830063858909184) > [](https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/872830297691348993) As has now become the dictionary company’s regular contribution to social media, Merriam-Webster’s tweets have made headlines by weighing in on the national dialogue with tweets that spread by the thousands. This latest take garnered 493 retweets and 1,207 likes in one hour. **MORE:** [18 Times Merriam-Webster Was a Political Troll](http://time.com/4774687/merriam-webster-dictionary-politics-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/) The dictionary later had more fun with Comey’s term “fuzz,” about possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. > [](https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/872842447705055232) > [](https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/872841567052103681) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4810999/james-comey-testimony-merriam-webster-lordy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4810999/james-comey-testimony-merriam-webster-lordy/"},"headline":"James Comey Said 'Lordy.' So Merriam-Webster Weighed In","datePublished":"2017-06-08T16:57:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:44:18.457Z","description":"Merriam Webster defined James Comey's word \"lordy\" from James Comey's testimony before the Senate.","url":"https://time.com/4810999/james-comey-testimony-merriam-webster-lordy/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","viral","language","Donald Trump","James Comey","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab5931ddaaf860b7/6988d0cb0b72e307c06ee277/jame-comey-fbi-testimony-washington-dc-002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab5931ddaaf860b7/6988d0cb0b72e307c06ee277/jame-comey-fbi-testimony-washington-dc-002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-INTELLIGENCE","caption":"US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-INTELLIGENCE","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4810999/james-comey-testimony-merriam-webster-lordy/","name":"James Comey Said 'Lordy.' So Merriam-Webster Weighed In"}}]}] ```