Tag: democracy

• “Minneapolis” means “Waterfall City”

  

  A schoolmaster combined Dakota and Greek words to propose an official name for the city in the 1850s.

  John Kelly

  January 18, 2026

  Feature

• The 2025 Etymology of the Year

  

  “Fascism” is a challenging word for a challenging moment, and its origins may bear lessons for us.

  John Kelly

  November 4, 2025

  Etymology of the Year

• Some reflections on “pandemic”

  

  The political, and etymological, connections between “pandemic” and “democracy.”

  John Kelly

  June 8, 2020

  Feature

• “Caucus”: a smoke-filled etymology

  The next Speaker of the US House of Representative is courting the Freedom Caucus while the next President of the US is courting the Iowa caucuses. But the importance of the caucus to the American political process isn’t new. The caucus – a meeting of members of a political party or movement, especially to choose a candidate for election or…

  John Kelly

  October 27, 2015

  Uncategorized