Trending: ‘morass’

Maras, the plural form of mara, defined as “a long-legged long-eared rodent (Dolichotis magellanica) closely related to the cavies and widely distributed in southern South America,” spiked mightily in lookups on May 15th, 2020, because of … well, to be honest, we think it was because of a widespread inquiry into the spelling of morass.

"Stone to stone across the morass, as my father used to say," says @NYGovCuomo, who just announced beaches in NY will open for Memorial Day.

— @aeppel.bsky.social (@TimAeppel) May 15, 2020

The word actually used by Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, was morass, which we define in the following ways: “marsh,” “a situation that traps, confuses, or impedes,” and “an overwhelming or confusing mass or mixture.” Cuomo had very little, if anything, to say about South American rodents.

The Americans, however, after a severe contest, were at last obliged to give way, and retreat across the morass.
— The Military Repository (New York, NY), 2 Jan. 1797