Words of the Week - Feb. 11

’Retraction’ & 'Retract'

A group of Harvard professors all got together and signed a letter in support of a colleague, and then most of them seemed to wish that they had not done this thing, and so they got back together, and, as is the way with groups of college professors, decided that the best way to deal with the issue was to write another letter. As a result of all this retract and retraction spiked in lookups.

Almost all of the Harvard professors who signed onto an open letter last week that questioned the results of misconduct investigations into professor John L. Comaroff have retracted their support for the message. Thirty-four of the 38 faculty members who signed onto the letter, including some of Harvard’s most prominent scholars, signed a retraction letter Wednesday saying they “failed to appreciate the impact” their previous message would have.
— Ariel H. Kim & Meimei Xu, The Crimson (Cambridge, MA), 10 Feb. 2022

Retract, as when performed by cats with their claws, means “to draw back or in.” However, as when performed by college professors with an ill-considered letter, the word means “to take back or withdraw,” or “to disavow.” Retraction may be defined as “a statement made by one retracting,” “an act of retracting,” or “the ability to retract.”

’Salchow’

With the Winter Olympic Games taking place in Beijing a number of examples of athletic jargon are popping up in newspaper stories. Among the more prominent examples last week was salchow.

With a socially distanced crowd watching Thursday afternoon in Beijing, and millions back home on late-night TV, Chen soared through his opening quad salchow. He landed four more effortless quads, his only slight bobble coming on a late combination sequence, and couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as he seemingly reached for the sky.
— Dave Skretta, Associated Press, 10 Feb. 2022

We define salchow as “a figure-skating jump with a takeoff from the back inside edge of one skate followed by one or more full turns in the air and a landing on the back outside edge of the opposite skate.” In use since 1921, the word comes from the name of Swedish figure skater Ulrich Salchow. 

’Improper’

Improper was looked up by many people last week, after a story in The New York Times described Donald Trump’s removal of classified materials thusly.

Trump Gives Documents Improperly Taken From White House to Archives](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/us/politics/trump-national-archives-documents.html)
— (headline) [The New York Times, 7 Feb. 2022

Improper may be loosely defined as “not proper.” This somewhat obvious definition may be broken down into more specific senses, including “not in accord with propriety, modesty, good manners, or good taste,” “not suited to the circumstances, design, or end,” or “not in accord with fact, truth, or right procedure.” There are many synonyms which fall under the broad category of ‘inappropriate,’ including such as improper, unbecoming, unseemly, and wrong. Improper applies to a broader range of transgressions of rules not only of social behavior but of ethical practice or logical procedure or prescribed method.

’Normalcy’

Normalcy has been higher in lookups these past few weeks, as people talk about this state as something they’d very much like to return.

With Oregon over omicron peak, it now grapples with steps toward normalcy
— (headline) KATU, 9 Feb. 2022

Our definition of normalcy is “the state or fact of being normal.” There are two other things we can tell you about this word: someone will soon tell you that Warren Gamaliel Harding (29th president of the United States) coined this word, and this is not at all true. “A return to normalcy” was a slogan much associated with Harding’s campaign in 1920, but the word had been in use long before this. It appears as a mathematic term as far back as 1855, and was in general, non-mathematic, use by the 1870s.

A little wine at once warms them into candor and normalcy, and then grand airs fly off like a covey of partridges, not to return, at least the same evening.
—The Chicago Times, 14 Feb. 1875

’Queen Consort’

Queen consort was among our top lookups, after the current Queen of England indicated that she would like her daughter-in-law to be known as Queen some time in the future.

Camilla Shares Her Reaction to Future Queen Consort Title as Prince Charles Isolates Amid COVID Diagnosis
— (headline) People.com, 10 Feb. 2022

The definition of queen consort is “the wife of a reigning king”; should you need to refer to more than one such entity the correct plural form is queens consort. A queen consort is different than a queen regnant. The consort is married to a king, but typically has ascended to the throne solely through marrying its inhabitant, while a regnant is a queen reigning in her own right. The husband of a reigning queen is a prince consort.

Our Antedating of the Week

Our antedating of the week is flushable, defined as “suitable for disposal by flushing down a toilet.” Our earliest known use of this word had previously come from the year 1973, but recent findings show that things have been flushable (or, in some cases, non-flushable) since at least 1931.

Sanitary Napkins 4 Pkgs 68c. Powers Brand. Soft deodorant, flushable. 12 in each package. Reg. 29c. Notions Street Floor
— (advt) The Minneapolis Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), 7 Jan. 1931