[Vocabulary] Context and Donald Trump

[captain1]

Hello, something is causing me discomfort. How can I understand a sentence without context?
For example this case(that's what Donald Trump wrote on Twitter):

Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our U.S. politicians with daddy’s money. Can’t do it when I get elected. #Trump2016


The word 'dopey' has two meanings:
1. dopey adjective (DRUGGED) › ​wanting to ​sleep, because or as if you have taken a ​drug: He had taken a ​sleeping ​tablet the ​night before and still ​felt dopey.
2. dopey adjective (STUPID) › ​silly or ​stupid: He's ​nice, but a ​bit dopey.


(Thanks to Cambridge dictionary)

How can we know if the writer for example ,Donald Trump, has meant to say that the prince is stupid/silly or the prince is drugged without giving the readers a context? For example, context would be the using of the prince in marijuana.(I am not saying he is taking it but take it as an example of how the writer can give us a proper context).

Remark: Israeli News websites are translating 'dopey' as stupid and drugged. They don't have a consensus.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

How can I understand a sentence without context?

There are many times when a reader cannot understand what the writer really means when a word or a sentence is taken out of context.

You should not expect to make much sense of anything that comes from Donald Trump's mouth or from his pen, if he even knows how to use a pen...

 

[BobK]

Although the comments you have had about the importance of context are unquestionably right, I have rarely (if ever) heard the word dopey in the sense that that dictionary puts first. To express this, the more common usages are high/spaced out/tripping... (in the case of illegal drugs) or doped up/woozy... (in the case of legal ones). Drill down in this BNC search (that is, click on the word dopey so that all 54 cases appear with a snatch of context [though not always enough]). COCA has more: 286.

I think it's almost certain that Trump wasn't referring to drugs at all.

b

PS ...not that he wouldn't make that sort of unsubstantiated slur.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm with BobK. Although "dope" is a term for marijuana/cannabis, I have never heard "dopey" used to refer to someone under the influence of that drug. For me, it's always been used to mean "slightly stupid" or "idiotic". In BrE, we sometimes say that a person is a "a bit of a dope" to mean that they're a bit stupid or at least that their behaviour doesn't demonstrate much in the way of intelligence.

 

[captain1]

Lets do it more interesting

The royal house has problems with drugs by this(maybe its not him but its his family taking drugs):
Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others were detained by airport security on 26 October after nearly two tonnes of Captagon capsules and cocaine were found waiting to be loaded onto their private plane at Beirut airport. - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/l...icial-sources-2015778823#sthash.UYoxz0OJ.dpuf

 

[Rover_KE]

I'm closing this thread as it has gone off topic.

You could open a new thread in General Members Discussions if you wish, but take care not to contravene General Rule 3:

1. Religion and Politics
   
   This is a forum with members from all over the world, and therefore political discussion is banned due to its potential to offend.
   
   Discussions about religion and politics often become arguments very quickly. Our general policy is not to have such discussions. We are a language forum and, as far as possible, discussions should stick to language issues. There are political aspects to language learning and teaching, but any discussion that starts to get heated will be closed or deleted.
   

 

[Tdol]

Lets do it more interesting

That sounds like doing it wrong to me- it is not how I interpreted it when I read the remark.