The Words of the Week - 6/18/21

As always, have a nice weekend.

’Juneteenth’

Juneteenth spiked in lookups this week, both because of it soon occurring, and because President Biden announced that it would now be a federal holiday.

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a bill establishing Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, as a federal holiday.
— Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 17 Jun. 2021

Juneteenth is “June 19 celebrated especially in Texas to commemorate the belated announcement there of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865.” The holiday may be unfamiliar to some, but has long been viewed as a major celebration for many, especially Black Americans. Our records indicate considerable and consistent use of the word ever since the late 19th century.

Last Wednesday the citizens of this city and vicinity, native Texans, assembled in the fair grounds to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the liberation of the bonded Afro-American of Texas … Closely following the speakers an animated game of base ball was witnessed; when the happy throng repaired to their homes expressing themselves as highly pleased with their first Juneteenth celebration.
— Parsons Weekly (Parsons, KY), 22 Jun. 1895

Sherman people celebrated the Juneteenth at the beautiful Fred Douglas school grounds and the handsome Wood Lake park pavilion, midway between Sherman and Denison, on the electric railway.
— Freeman (Indianapolis, IN), 27 Jun. 1908

June 19th, or, as it is humorously referred to, “Juneteenth,” is the day the news of the emancipation proclamation reached Texas, so annually the day is celebrated much as we do Fourth of July.
— Chicago Defender, 3 Jul. 1915

’Provocative’

Esteemed and beloved New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm passed away last week, and headline writers the land over appeared to be in agreement on one word: provocative.

Janet Malcolm, provocative author-journalist with a razor wit, dies
— Los Angeles Times 

Janet Malcolm, Provocative Journalist With a Piercing Eye, Dies at 86
— The New York Times, 

Janet Malcolm, provocative author-journalist, dies at 86
— (headline) Associated Press

We define provocative as “serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate.” Provoke (”evoke,” “to stir up purposely,” “to incite to anger”) comes from the Latin provocare, which itself comes from pro- (meaning “forth”) and vocare (“to call”). It is not uncommon for certain words that aptly describe a recently deceased person to spike in lookups; icon and iconic both saw greatly increased traffic after the deaths of Prince and David Bowie.

’Pipehitter’

Pipehitter was on the minds of many people last week, after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about the need for more of them.

One of the best CIA officers I worked with was a former special operator. When I’d ask him about someone, if they were top-notch, he’d say, ‘love that guy. Pipehitter.’ He meant that person got stuff done & was dedicated to the mission. All of us need to be Pipehitters.

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) June 16, 2021

In modern parlance, pipehitter would appear to be military jargon, and is not yet widespread or established enough to be entered in most dictionaries. The word had a certain amount of currency in the late 19th century, as a term for an opium smoker. This use is no longer widespread.

Reno has her share of “pipe hitters.” Men who steep the brains and deaden their sensibilities in the noxious inhalations of the drowsy Indian drug.
— Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, NV), 21 Feb. 1879

’Shadow cabinet’

Shadow cabinet was another word spiking in lookups throughout the week. People appeared to be looking it up due to there being a number of shadow cabinets being formed across the globe.

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns pins election hopes on new faces as he announces shadow cabinet
— (headline) Australian Broadcasting Company (https://www.abc.net.au/), 12 Jun. 2021

Soon after the vetting of Ministers by Parliament, the Leader of Opposition will also appoint a shadow cabinet of 23 ministers.

The shadow cabinet is expected to develop alternative policies to counter government positions they do not agree with. #NBSLiveAt9 pic.twitter.com/EoqEfq7kRk

— NBS Television (@nbstv) June 15, 2021

We define shadow cabinet as “a group of leaders of a parliamentary opposition who constitute the probable membership of the cabinet when their party is returned to power.” Cabinet came to English from Middle French, in which the word means “small room,” and is further derived from a word meaning “gambling house.” Shadow cabinet has been in use since the beginning of the 20th century.

’Affordable Care Act’

The Affordable Care Act received considerable attention last week, after the Supreme Court once again issued a ruling that allowed it to remain in effect.

The Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land.The Supreme Court's dismissal Thursday of the latest Republican-led challenge to the landmark health reform law, widely known as Obamacare, leaves in place the existing system.
— Tami Luhby, CNN, 17 Jun. 2021

The act, which is also known more familiarly as Obamacare (and more technically as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), has an entry in our legal dictionary. It is not a short explanation, so think about packing some snacks before you settle down to read it.

Our Antedating of the Week: 'hellscape’

Our antedating of the week is hellscape, defined as “a hellish landscape; a harshly unpleasant place or environment.” The word spiked in lookups this week after Meghan McCain used it in a tweet, spelling it in unconventional form.

Seeing a lot of so called republicans on twitter who are all of a sudden extremely concerned about our President being hard with Putin.

Where were you the last four years of the Trump/Putin hells-cape, fever dream? You have absolutely no clout here, none. NONE.

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 16, 2021

Hellscape is fashioned after landscape; it borrows the latter portion of that word, and so if you choose to hyphenate the word (already a risky move) you should do so between the hell and the scape. Our earliest record for hellscape had previously come in 1894, but recent findings show that we’ve had hellscapes since at least the 1880s.

Ambrose.—I send you some of the most hyenaful whiskey that ever unfleshed a skeleton from a feast or painted hell-scapes in the brain of man.
— The Mount Hope Clarion (Mount Hope, KS), 13 Oct. 1887