Words of the Week - Feb. 18

’Anarchy’

Anarchy was in the news last weekend, after a pundit tweeted that “The NFL is now the league of sexual anarchy” in response to the halftime show of the Super Bowl.

Liberals and Conservatives Unite to Dunk on Charlie Kirk for Calling Super Bowl Halftime Show ‘Sexual Anarchy’
— (headline) Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2022

Anarchy has been in use in English since the early 16th century, initially with the meaning “absence of government” (the word may be traced to the Greek ánarchos, meaning "without a head or chief, leaderless”). Over the centuries the word has broadened in meaning, with extended senses including “a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority,” “absence of order,” and “a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government.”

’Retract’

Retract trended in lookups again, the first time this word has done so in an entire week. Last week the word trended due to a group of professors trying to retract a group letter; this week the cause was the accounting firm for the Trump Organization trying to retract a decade of reports.

Accounting Firm Cuts Ties With Trump and Retracts Financial Statements
— (headline) The New York Times, 14 Feb. 2022

As the past two weeks have demonstrated, retract is a word that may be suitable in a variety of settings. The relevant meaning employed in each of these recent cases is “to recant or disavow something.”

’Propaganda’

Propaganda has been much in the news of late, following increased tension between Russia and a number of other countries.

U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday accused a conservative financial news website with a significant American readership of amplifying Kremlin propaganda and alleged five media outlets targeting Ukrainians have taken direction from Russian spies.
— Nooman Merchant, Associated Press, 15 Feb. 2022

The word has been used in English since the beginning of the 19th century to mean “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person” and “ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause.” However, propaganda was in use for hundreds of year prior to this, with the meaning of “a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions” (when used in this sense the word is typically capitalized). The Congregatio de propaganda fide (“Congregation for propagating the faith”) was an organization established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV as a means of furthering Catholic missionary activity.

’Loony’

Loony spiked in lookups last week, either because it was announced that a former pro wrestler would star in a cartoon movie, or because a politician tweeted something intemperate about critical race theory.

John Cena To Star In Looney Tunes Live-Action/Animated Hybrid Pic ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’
— (headline) Deadline, 16 Feb. 2022

A tweet sent by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has reignited concern among some University of Texas at Austin faculty members that the purpose of a new conservative-backed think tank may be to restrict teaching about critical race theory. “I will not stand by and let looney Marxist UT professors poison the minds of young students with Critical Race Theory,” Patrick wrote on the social media platform Twitter.
— Kate McGee, Texas Tribune, 16 Feb. 2022

Loony is a shortening of lunatic, which as an adjective may mean “wildly foolish” or “affected with a severely disordered state of mind.” Please note that the second definition is now considered dated. Lunatic comes from the Latin luna, from the belief that lunacy itself fluctuated with the phases of the moon.

’Deposition’

Deposition trended in lookups late this week, after a judge ruled that three members of the Trump family must sit for one of these.

Judge Orders Donald Trump to Sit for Deposition in New York Lawsuit
— (headline) Time, 17 Feb. 2022

Deposition has a number of specific legal senses, including “a statement that is made under oath by a party or witness (as an expert) in response to oral examination or written questions and that is recorded by an authorized officer (as a court reporter)” and “the certified document recording such a statement.” Our legal entry includes the following note: “A deposition can be used as a method of discovery, to preserve the testimony of a witness who is likely to become unavailable for trial, or for impeachment of testimony at trial. Depositions are distinguished from affidavits by the requirement that notice and an opportunity to cross-examine the deponent must be given to the other party.”

When the word came into English use, in the 14th century, its initial meaning was “an act of removing from a position of authority.”

Our Antedating of the Week

Double standard is our antedating of the week, after a runner who was unable to compete in the Olympics last summer after being suspended for marijuana use averred that this kind of standard existed when a skater was allowed to compete this winter after testing positive for a banned substance.

Sha'Carri Richardson sees a double standard in allowing Kamila Valieva to compete
— (headline) NPR, 15 Feb. 2022

We define double standard in two ways: “set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another,” and “bimetallism; the use of two metals (such as gold and silver) jointly as a monetary standard with both constituting legal tender at a predetermined ratio.” Our earliest known use had previously come in 1872, for the sense for a different set of principles; recent findings show that the word was in use over a century earlier, first used in the bimetallism sense.

Where then can be the impropriety of making the gold a standard, as well as the silver? The Romans did this for many ages: We followed their example: When the way of accounting by pounds, shillings, and pence, was first introduced, the shilling was a gold coin, the twentieth part of the pound sterling; and there was consequently a double standard: The payments were equally legal, the contracts cull as well understood, whether they were discharged by twenty shillings in gold, or by the silver pound.
— William Clarke, The connexion of the Roman, Saxon, and English coins, deduced from observations on the Saxon weights and money, 1767