A.W.A.D. - Words Coined for This Year's Presidential Candidates

Two years in the making, the 2008 US presidential election will take place two weeks from now. By the time the campaigns end, the candidates will have spent more than a billion dollars trying to get the job. All those bucks for a position that earns less than half million dollars a year and lasts only four years! But weighing the post by its salary is like saying that Olympic athletes sweat for years just to pocket a few hundred dollars' worth of gold.

The post of President of the United States carries immense power to make decisions that affect, for better or worse, people the world over. The effect of the actions of a president last for years and eponyms (words coined after someone's name) enter the language that reflect their legacy, such as Reaganomics, teddy bear (after Theodore Roosevelt), etc.This week I have selected five words that appear to have been coined after this year's presidential candidates (Obama, Biden, McCain, and Palin). These are all 100% dictionary words -- they have been in the language even before these candidates were born.

Enjoy these words, and don't forget to vote!

obambulate
PRONUNCIATION: (o-BAM-byuh-layt)
MEANING: verb tr.: To walk about

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ob- (towards, against) + ambulare (to walk). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ambhi- (around) that is also the source of ambulance, alley, preamble, and bivouac. The first print citation of the word is from 1614.

bidentate
PRONUNCIATION: (by-DEN-tayt)
MEANING: adjective: Having two teeth or toothlike parts

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin bi- (two) + dens (tooth).

palinode
PRONUNCIATION: (PAL-uh-noad)
MEANING: noun: A poem in which the author retracts something said in an earlier poem

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek palinoidia, from palin (again) + oide (song). It's the same palin that shows up in the word palindrome. Here's a palindromic web address: http://wordsmith.org/words/sdrow/gro.htimsdrow//:ptth

meeken
PRONUNCIATION: (MEEK-en)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To make or become meek or submissive

ETYMOLOGY: From meek, from Old Norse mjúkr (soft, meek).

barrack
PRONUNCIATION: (BAR-uhk, the first syllable is the same as in barrel)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.:
1. To shout in support: to cheer
2. To shout against: to jeer.noun: A building used to house soldiers

ETYMOLOGY: The verb sense of the word is perhaps from Northern Ireland dialectal barrack (to brag).The noun sense is from French baraque, from Italian baracca or Spanish barraca (hut, tent).

Comments

webmaster said…
good blog sir

WE HAVE A COMMON INTEREST IN HR

REGARDS
30 October 2008 at 10:09
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