# what do you mean by "Impeachment"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 18, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947 "2017-05-18T19:50:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/21 "2017-05-19T01:56:35Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So, I’m picking “something else”. It’s ironic that the OP is trying to pin down a definition but doesn’t actually offer the actual, precise definition. I also went with “something else.” I wonder why the OP didn’t include the correct definition among the poll options. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/22 "2017-05-19T02:02:49Z")
When I use the word, I mean the entire process by which a President (or other office-holder) is accused, tried, convicted, and removed from office. This process was started for Jackson and Clinton, and has not yet been completed for any President. Certainly, when someone says “Impeach \!”, they don’t mean that they want that President impeached by the House but then acquitted by the Senate. The reason to want a president impeached is because you want the full process to go through. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/23 "2017-05-19T03:26:04Z")
To impeach is to bring charges that, if found to be valid and true, result in the official being removed from office. Bill Clinton was impeached but not convicted. Andrew Johnson, likewise. No US President has ever been impeached and then convicted. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/24 "2017-05-19T03:29:22Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That might have been true a few months ago. 😃 Yes, it’s having a bit of a renaissance. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/25 "2017-05-19T04:17:52Z")
I would have said “The House votes in favor of charging the President with a high crime or misdemeanor.” That is, you’ve been “impeached” when the House vote succeeds. As that wasn’t on the list, I said “something else”. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/26 "2017-05-19T10:21:11Z")
This will probably not end well. The fact that even on the SDMB one may find a minority of posters who misunderstand what a word means\* does not actually change the meaning of the word in law or practice. - [sigh] \* Carry on. \*_(Currently, the votes show only 17 of 69 votes including removal from office in their understanding.)_ ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/27 "2017-05-19T10:34:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > We have heard this a lot; “Impeach Trump”, so by that what do you mean? > [@](#): > > what do you mean by “Impeachment”? These are different questions, and your poll is incomplete as it doesn’t account for “hearing _and successful vote_ in the House”. To answer your question(s): By “Impeachment” I mean “hearing and successful vote in the House”, because that’s what that is. By “Impeach Trump”, I assume the idiots saying that think it means removal from office. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/28 "2017-05-19T10:42:45Z")
I think people say “Impeach Trump” in the same way people will say they want some criminal arrested. Obviously they don’t want the criminal arrested and then acquitted and let go. It’s short hand for the whole process, including the desired outcome. Doesn’t mean they don’t necessarily know what the term actually means. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/29 "2017-05-19T10:49:33Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I also went with “something else.” I wonder why the OP didn’t include the correct definition among the poll options. :dubious: Define “impugn”. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/30 "2017-05-19T11:18:31Z")
I selected “hearing in the the House”, but not convicted. That is what I strictly mean by "impeachment. But like so many other things whose common definition is changing (“literally” means figuratively; "loose means “lose”), I recognize that when people say “impeached” they mean “impeached and removed from office”. It’s not the actual meaning, but I catch their drift. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/31 "2017-05-19T11:52:38Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I think people say “Impeach Trump” in the same way people will say they want some criminal arrested. Obviously they don’t want the criminal arrested and then acquitted and let go. It’s short hand for the whole process, including the desired outcome. > > Doesn’t mean they don’t necessarily know what the term actually means. This guy has it right, at least this is the most correct answer to the title question as asked. If you want to know what most people mean when they say ANY word, it doesn’t matter what the dictionary or even the defining document (the Constitution in this case) says it means. It’s obvious to me, at least, that 99.999% of the time, when you hear someone say “impeach Trump” (or anyone else) they mean “kick this person out of office.” I wish people would communicate more clearly and exactly too, but that obviously aint gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/32 "2017-05-19T12:25:43Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I think people say “Impeach Trump” in the same way people will say they want some criminal arrested. Obviously they don’t want the criminal arrested and then acquitted and let go. It’s short hand for the whole process, including the desired outcome. > > Doesn’t mean they don’t necessarily know what the term actually means. Precisely right. The fact that the word has a constitutional meaning doesn’t invalidate other meanings of the words. Quibblers over this come across like undergrads who sneer about a vegetable salad containing tomatoes: “Tomatoes are a fruit!” > [@igor\_frankensteen](#): > > It’s obvious to me, at least, that 99.999% of the time, when you hear someone say “impeach Trump” (or anyone else) they mean “kick this person out of office.” I wish people would communicate more clearly and exactly too, but that obviously aint gonna happen. The problem is, the communication IS clear and exact. If you see an “Impeach Trump” bumper sticker, and you think it means anything other than, “Complete the process by which a president is lawfully removed from office for wrongdoing,” the failure of communication is on your part, not the bumper sticker’s: the intended meaning is crystalline to most people. There is no other word that concisely conveys this thought, and writing out the entire process is less clear by reason of prolixity. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/33 "2017-05-19T12:34:18Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I think people say “Impeach Trump” in the same way people will say they want some criminal arrested. Obviously they don’t want the criminal arrested and then acquitted and let go. It’s short hand for the whole process, including the desired outcome. > > Doesn’t mean they don’t necessarily know what the term actually means. This is how I feel about “being sued”. I know what “sued” means. But when I hear it, my brain wants to think: “Person was taken to court and lost.” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/34 "2017-05-19T12:36:14Z")
“Hearing in the House” is the start, but not all. The part of impeachment that actually impeaches is after the hearing when they take a vote. If they have a hearing and take a vote and the measure doesn’t pass, that is no impeachment. Think of it this way: House=grand jury (decides whether or not to bring formal charges). Senate=petit jury (tries the case and gives a verdict). If the choice in the poll had been “hearing in the House followed by a vote to impeach,” that would be accurate. It’s clear that calling for someone to be “impeached” implicitly expresses a wish for “removal from office” and is a shorthand kind of pars pro toto. Which is not the same thing as what the verb “to impeach” means. I can see how easily someone could infer from the conversation of others that the meaning is “remove from office,” but it doesn’t work backwards that way. An extended sense of a word does not automatically destroy and replace its core meaning. Part of handling language effectively is to know which sense you’re talking about. To get the accurate meaning, all you need to do is read your own Constitution—it does include you in the body politic, after all. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/35 "2017-05-19T12:52:36Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > None of those choices is correct, except for “something else”. Impeachment is trial in the Senate. I wondered about that. A trick question! Very sad. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/36 "2017-05-19T13:10:57Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > This is how I feel about “being sued”. I know what “sued” means. But when I hear it, my brain wants to think: “Person was taken to court and lost.” Yeah- that’s a good example. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/37 "2017-05-19T13:11:08Z")
I voted for “Hearing in the House, then removed”. The meaning of the word does depend on context a bit, but when I say “Trump should be impeached” I mean that he should be removed from office so I assume that somebody else using that term means the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/38 "2017-05-19T13:23:05Z")
However, all that being said, if someone said “Bill Clinton was impeached” that would be an accurate statement that no one should argue with, and most would understand. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/39 "2017-05-19T13:31:55Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I think people say “Impeach Trump” in the same way people will say they want some criminal arrested. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Precisely right. “Indict” would be better than “arrest”, although people probably don’t chant “indict” all that often. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > ``` > However, all that being said, if someone said "Bill Clinton was impeached" that would be an accurate statement that no one should argue with, and most would understand. > > ``` Yes. One problem with insisting that impeach means “removal from office” is that you end up with nonsense statements like “no president has ever been impeached”. Talk about introducing confusion into the discussion! Bottom line, though, is that of course we all know people use the term to mean different things. And often, although not always, you can tell what the person means by context. Still, it’s nonsense to to try and reverse correct someone when they challenge the statement that “no president has been impeached”. Accept the correction, and learn. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947/40 "2017-05-19T13:32:09Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No, in the United States, impeachment is the hearing of charges in the House of Representatives and passing a motion by a simple majority. Trial in the Senate is a separate process. I voted “something else”, because the above is correct. The hearings are not impeachment - passing the motion of impeachment is impeachment. Impeachment does not mean removed from office, either. Two Presidents have been impeached, and neither was removed from office. “Being brought before a grand jury” does not mean ‘indicted’ and it does not mean “convicted and sent to prison”. “Impeached” does not mean they held hearings, and it does not mean “removed from office”. If you mean “Trump should be impeached and removed from office” then say so. If you don’t care whether or not he is removed from office then just say “Trump should be impeached”. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-mean-by-impeachment/786947.md?page=3)