Tag: metaphor
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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 -
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 -
How the word “climate” has changed
Rooted in a Greek verb meaning “to slope,” climate originally referred to seven latitudinal zones spanning the Earth. On Thursday, President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, a 2015 landmark effort to combat climate change joined by nearly 200 countries—minus Syria, Nicaragua, and, now, the US. Where does the word climate come from it, and how…
John Kelly -
Channeling the roots of “channel”
The word channel may have a secret back channel to a Semitic or Arabic root. When it comes to Russia, Trump just can’t change the channel. The Washington Post reported last Friday that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, talked about setting up a secret back channel of communications with Russia this past December. As…
John Kelly -
Ensnared by “scandal”
Scandal ultimately comes from the Greek for a “spring trap.” With smoke continuing to billow from the White House over the Trump-Russia investigation, there’s something else in the air: the word scandal. What’s the etymological fire behind this word?
John Kelly
Mashed Radish 