Month: June 2017

• One “mean” etymology

  Mean originally meant “in common.” If only that actually described US healthcare.  Despite previously praising the House Republican healthcare bill as a “great plan” in a public ceremony in May, Donald Trump told senators this week that the bill was “mean, mean, mean.” Where does this common little word mean come from?

  John Kelly

  June 16, 2017

  Feature

• The origin of “cloud” is very down to earth

  Last week, fired FBI director James Comey testified that President Trump asked him to “lift the cloud” cast by the ongoing investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia. This cloud, though, isn’t blowing over—something also true of the surprising origin of the word cloud.

  John Kelly

  June 13, 2017

  Feature

• Not above the law: The origin of “loyalty”

  Being loyal isn’t always legal—except when it comes to etymology.  In written testimony to the Senate, fired FBI director James Comey described an encounter with President Trump in January that Trump needed and expected “loyalty” from Comey. This word loyalty, though, isn’t just at the center of an incredible legal and political drama: It’s at…

  John Kelly

  June 9, 2017

  Feature

• Review: Barnhart’s Never-finished Political Dictionary of the 21st Century

  As my regular readers know well, I tend to focus on the origins of everyday words that are timely, seasonal, or buzzing in the news. My selections, more often than not, come from politics—and, these days, it seems they’re almost exclusively from or about Trump. Not that I’m alone. Take Barnhart’s Never-finished Political Dictionary of…

  John Kelly

  June 6, 2017

  Review

• How the word “climate” has changed

  Rooted in a Greek verb meaning “to slope,” climate originally referred to seven latitudinal zones spanning the Earth.   On Thursday, President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, a 2015 landmark effort to combat climate change joined by nearly 200 countries—minus Syria, Nicaragua, and, now, the US. Where does the word climate come from it, and how…

  John Kelly

  June 2, 2017

  Feature