Tag: politics
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Candidate
Some things just don’t change. Today’s presidential candidates would fit right into Ancient Rome – both in name and action. See, the etymology of candidate turns out to be quite illuminating. Candidate The Oxford English Dictionary first cites candidate in 1609, where it appears in the second edition of Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabeticall: “Candidate, a suiter for, or one…
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Inside the “establishment”
As the candidates run for the US presidency, there’s one word many are running against (and from): establishment. We see the term especially used for the mainstream Republican party, though Bernie Sanders is increasingly positioning himself against a Democratic establishment. What established this word establishment, etymologically speaking? Establishment The English language first sets up establishment in the late 15th century. Early on, establishment named a “settled arrangement,”…
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Gerbils (and etymology) will bring us all together
For this post, I thought about writing on the etymology of demagogue or bigotry, which have been much in the ether lately, thanks especially to Donald Trump. But I thought twice, important as these words are right now. I thought twice because I wanted to write on something a bit more positive and, well, fun than many of…
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Common word, uncommon power: behind “ban”
Donald Trump is once again making headlines – and turning heads. As his campaign issued in a news release this week: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on. In their coverage of it, many in the press…
Mashed Radish 