Tag: politics
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The etymological routes of “trade”
At the G7 summit in Canada this week, Donald Trump’s recent tariffs are sparking unprecedented trade disputes with some of the US’s closest allies. We considered the origins of tariff not long back on the blog (and embargo well before it). But how about the word trade itself? It takes a path into English you…
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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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The long, etymological trek of “caravan”
A so-called caravan has arrived at the US border after trekking thousands of miles across Mexico from Central America. Now numbering in the hundreds, the people, including many women and children, are seeking asylum in the US from violence back home. Caravan came to prominence earlier in April after Donald Trump tweeted an ominous reference…
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TIME, emoji, and the unusual “with-” in “withdraw”
This past week, TIME magazine’s talented Katy Steinmetz interviewed me for a fantastic piece on the challenges of using words that have offensive histories, such as bulldozer. (Steinmetz also interviewed me back in 2016, you may recall, about the fascinating Japanese linguistics behind words like Pokémon and karaoke.) Catch up on my writing for the…
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Taking an etymological “census”
The Trump administration has added a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 US census. Opponents have quickly criticized and sued over the move, arguing it will deter immigrants from responding, not only resulting in an accurate count of the population but also violating the very US constitution. Let’s survey the origin of census.
Mashed Radish 