Category: Feature

• The origin of “meddle”: It’s all in the “mix”

  Recent reports are revealing that Russian meddling in the 2016 US election was more extensive than initially understood. As investigators continue probing the interference, let’s meddle with the etymology of meddle.

  John Kelly

  June 27, 2017

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• How a “bubble” becomes a “bill”

  A legislative bill ultimately comes from the Latin bulla, “bubble,” later likened to round “seals” authenticating important documents.   After drafting it in secrecy, Republican senators released their healthcare bill to repeal Obamacare on Thursday, already being criticized for its steep cuts to Medicaid—and tax cuts for the wealthy. As we debate the bill, let’s take…

  John Kelly

  June 23, 2017

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• What’s at “stake” in “attack”

  A doublet of the word attach, attack ultimately comes from a Germanic root meaning “stake.”  London has again faced another terrorist attack, this time from a Welsh man who plowed his van into a group of Muslim people near a mosque in Finsbury Park. As the word attack has become, alas, an all-too familiar one—excepting…

  John Kelly

  June 20, 2017

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• 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

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• 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

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