Tag: etymology

• Why do we “endorse” candidates?

  Sarah Palin made news this week with her endorsement of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. Her endorsement raised a number of questions, we could say. Not the least of which, most certainly, is the etymological one. Why’s it called endorse? Endorse We endorse candidates because we endorse checks, essentially. Money indeed plays an obscene role in politics, but…

  John Kelly

  January 22, 2016

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• Flying, flap-eared pigs?

  I wanted to point you to some other pieces I have around the web. You’re forewarned: Some strong language lies ahead. A few weeks back, I had a post on the OxfordWords blog: “Pig, dog, hog, and other etymologies from the farm.” As I note: We’ve left the farm and have wandered into the woods to discover where some very…

  John Kelly

  January 21, 2016

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• Dismantling “mantle”

  I’ve been thinking about the word mantle recently. During the latest Republican debate, Donald Trump trumpeted that he “will gladly accept the mantle of anger” about the problems, at least in his and his supporters’ view, that the US faces. Meanwhile, the Iran deal went into effect after “the country followed through with its promises to dismantle large…

  John Kelly

  January 19, 2016

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• Cancer

  This week, we lost two greats to cancer: David Bowie and Alan Rickman. Their passing so sudden, the news hit many hard, but cancer, as so many know too well, can be such a creeping foe. In its own small way, the etymology of cancer bears this out. Cancer Cancer spread into English from French and Latin, both…

  John Kelly

  January 15, 2016

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• What is the “jack” in “jackpot”?

  Most people – normal folks, I imagine – are excited by the size of the Powerball jackpot: It has reached a record $1.5 billion at the time I write this. (I’ve already had to revise it up from $1.4 billion since I began this post.) But nerd that I am, I am wowed by the word jackpot. To me, its…

  John Kelly

  January 12, 2016

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