What Is Plagiarism? As Melania Trump Apparently Plagiarizes Michelle Obama, Here Is The Meaning

MMelania Trump — While the Trump Campaign called plagiarism accusations against Melania Trump, pictured July 18, 2016, "absurd," they might want to re-read the definition of the word. Reuters

Melania Trump did not plagiarize Michelle Obama’s speech from the 2008 Democratic National Convention: That’s the story Donald Trump’s campaign is sticking to. But while a majority of Melania Trump’s speech was seemingly original, there were two lines that were undoubtedly close to what Michelle Obama said it 2008. It was more than just paraphrasing.

Here is how Dictionary.com defines plagiarism: “An act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting.” It comes from the Latin word plagium, which means kidnapping.

There is also a plagiarism checker that writers can use. When part of Melania Trump’s speech was placed into the tool on Grammarly.com, the website concluded, “significant plagiarism was detected.”

“We have found significant plagiarism in your text and have also detected 6 writing issues,” the website said. While the spelling and sentence structure was accurate, Grammarly revealed there was issues with grammar, punctuation, enhancement, style and, of course, plagiarism.

For reference, this is the text that was entered into the generator:

“From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily lives. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”

The Trump Campaign denies that the former supermodel did anything wrong. “To think that she would do something like that knowing how scrutinized her speech was going to be last night is just really absurd,” Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort told CNN Tuesday. “There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech. These were common words and values. She cares about her family.”