Tag: French
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What is the “feck” in “feckless”?
Heads up: strong language ahead. Comedian Samantha Bee sparked controversy this week when she called Ivanka Trump a “feckless cunt” for her political complicity. The obscene remark, which Bee has since apologized for, had some wryly observing: why is everyone up in arms over feckless? I think feckless and cunt are due for the etymological…
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Deducing the roots of “duke”
Upon their marriage today, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle don’t just become husband and wife. They also become the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Now, I won’t dare untangle the long and complex history of British peerage, but I will track down the origin of two of its titles, duke and duchess.
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What is the “tres” in “trespass”?
The recent arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks while waiting for a business associate has sparked outrage, protests, a national conversation on racism, and efforts from Starbucks to address implicit bias among its employees. It has also sparked, from me, an etymological consideration of two words that have frequently come up in…
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Because there’s always a reason to talk about pets…and etymology
I could have written about Zuckerberg today, with the Facebook CEO in the congressional hot seat. His surname literally means “sugar mountain” in German—and I don’t think that’ll be the next Farmville or Candy Crush any time soon. I thought to write about raid, which the FBI did to Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen on Monday. Raid…
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Trimming back the etymological “mustache”
All eyes on John Bolton…’s mustache. The former US ambassador to the UN is now Donald Trump’s third National Security Advisor. Political observers are quick to comment on Bolton’s hawkish foreign policy—and quip on his bristly whiskers.