Tag: English
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Miscreants, quarry, and records: changes of “heart”
On Valentine’s Day, hearts are everywhere. Candy hearts. Heart emoji. Every imaginable sort of heart-shaped chocolate, greeting card, decorative banner, bric-a-brac. Hearts even swell in our words – and not just the likes sweetheart or, depending on how feel about the holiday, heartsick. I grant you no quarry, you discordant, incredulous, myocardial miscreant! Yes, these…
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Issuing an etymological “executive order”
Executive, first found in Middle English, goes all the way back to Latin, but it’s not until the presidency of Abraham Lincoln that we see executive order. Since taking office, President Trump has issued eight executive orders. As his most controversial directive, the travel ban, goes to court, let’s go into the history of the word…
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Why is it called an “inauguration”?
The etymology of inauguration is one “for the birds.” Today marks the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. This historic moment raises lots of questions. Like Why? Why does the transfer of power take place on January 20? In 1933, Congress ratified the 20th Amendment, which moved up the…
Mashed Radish 