The Words of the Week - June 9

‘Whitewash’

Whitewash spiked in lookups last week, as the word appeared in a number of articles about a proposed merger of two golf groups.

PGA Tour Capitulates to Saudi Arabia’s Cashed-Up LIV Golf — The merger brings together America’s premier golf league and a fledgling tournament accused of helping to whitewash Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.
— Isabella Ramirez, The Daily Beast, 6 Jun. 2023

The most relevant sense of whitewash here is “to gloss over or cover up (something, such as a record of criminal behavior).” The word first entered English in the late 16th century, with the meaning “to whiten with whitewash (a liquid composition for whitening a surface).” It has since taken on a number of additional meanings; in addition to the “cover up” sense that people are using with the golfers, the word may mean “to exonerate (someone) by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data,” “to hold (an opponent) scoreless in a game or contest,” and (most recently) “to alter (an original story) by casting a white performer in a role based on a nonwhite person or fictional character.”

‘D-Day'

The first week of June saw the 79th anniversary of D-Day.

Tuesday marks the 79th anniversary of the historic D-Day operation. In the midst of World War II on June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France. More than 156,000 troops, notably from the United States, Britain and Canada, confronted Nazi forces on D-Day forever reshaping the war, according to the Department of Defense.
— Wyatte Grantham-Philips, USA Today, 6 Jun. 2023

The D-Day in question here is one we define as “June 6, 1944, on which Allied forces began the invasion of France in World War II.” The word may also refer more generally to “a day set for launching an operation.” The initial D in D-Day (which is also occasionally written as D-day) is an abbreviation itself of the word day. This convention is found in other forms of military terminology, such as H-hour (“the hour set for launching a specific tactical operation”), in which the initial H is an abbreviation of the word hour.

‘Apocalyptic’

Apocalyptic had a busy week, after smoke from Canadian wildfires covered much of the eastern portion of the United States in an unhealthy haze.

Worst air quality in 20 years grips New York City, creates apocalyptic-looking skyline
— (headline) AccuWeather.com, 8 June 2023

Apocalyptic means “of, relating to, or involving terrible violence and destruction” or “of or relating to the end of the world.” The word comes from apocalypse, which itself is from a Greek word that literally means “uncovering” or “revelation.” The Book of Revelation in the Bible (also known as the Apocalypse) gives a dark and dramatic picture of the end of the world. Postapocalyptic, another word much used to refer to climate of late, means “existing or occurring after a catastrophically destructive disaster or apocalypse.”

‘Sonic boom’

Residents of Washington DC were alarmed by a sonic boom last weekend.

A sonic boom that echoed over Washington Sunday was caused by two fighter jets scrambling to intercept an unresponsive aircraft that later crashed in rural Virginia, officials told AFP.
— The Economic Times, 6 June 2023

A sonic boom (also called a sonic bang) is “a sound resembling an explosion produced when a shock wave formed at the nose of an aircraft traveling at supersonic speed reaches the ground.” Supersonic is defined as “of, being, or relating to speeds from one to five times the speed of sound in air.” And sonic, without anything super about it, and with no booms attached, can be defined as “of, relating to, or being the speed of sound in air or about 761 miles per hour (1224 kilometers per hour) at sea level at 59°F (15°C).”

Words Worth Knowing: ‘Anxiogenic’

Our word worth knowing this week is anxiogenic, which means “producing anxiety.” This is a word you may apply to sonic booms, the toxic haze from wildfires, and all things political.