Words of the Week - May 27

’AR15’

AR15 trended sharply in lookups this week, as it often does after the weapon is used in a mass shooting.

The AR-15, like its military version, is designed to kill people quickly and in large numbers, hence the term assault-style rifle, gun control advocates told NPR in 2018.
— Jonathan Franklin, NPR, 26 May 2022

We define AR15 as “a .223 caliber gas-operated semiautomatic rifle that is essentially a civilian version of the M16.” The AR portion of the name stands for the first two letters of Armalite, the manufacturer of the weapon. In this case AR is not an abbreviation for assault rifle, which we define as “any of various intermediate-range, magazine-fed military rifles (such as the AK-47) that can be set for automatic or semiautomatic fire also : a rifle that resembles a military assault rifle but is designed to allow only semiautomatic fire.”

’Cabal’

Cabal had a moment in the sun last week as well, following allegations that a group of people were conspiring to improperly influence local government in California.

Disney power broker is part of a ‘cabal’ pulling the strings in Anaheim, FBI records show
– (headline) The Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2022

We define cabal as “the contrived schemes of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government),” and also note that it may refer a group engaged in such schemes. One occasionally comes across claims that cabal is an acronym, and that the word was formed from the initials of five men who plotted against the government during the reign of King Charles II. However, cabal is not an acronym; it comes from the Late Hebrew qabbālāh, meaning “received (lore).” The earliest meaning of the word was concerned with Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament, and the sense relating to plotters emerged somewhat later, in the middle of the 17th century.

'Hang'

Allegations that the former president was not indisposed to the idea of seeing the former vice president hanged sent many people to the dictionary in search of the word hang.

Trump expressed support for hanging Pence during Capitol riot, Jan. 6 panel told
— (headline) Politico, 25 May 2022

Hang has many possible meanings; the one most relevant here is “to die by being suspended by the neck.” Some usage guides feel quite strongly that there is a useful distinction to be made in deciding between hanged and hung when referring to something that had at some point in the past been suspended. The advice given is that hung is preferred in almost every circumstance (such as ‘the picture was hung in the living room’), the exception being cases where a person is put to death (‘the prisoner was hanged yesterday at noon’). It is worth noting that this distinction extends to representations of people; had a straw figure made to resemble some politician (but not the actual person) been subjected to this treatment it would be considered correct to say that they were hung in effigy, but if the actual person had been so punished one would say that they had been hanged. Here is what our own usage guide has to say on this matter:

“The distinction between hanged and hung is not an especially useful one (although a few commentators claim otherwise). It is, however, a simple one and certainly easy to remember. Therein lies its popularity. If you make a point of observing the distinction in your writing, you will not thereby become a better writer, but you will spare yourself the annoyance of being corrected for having done something that is not wrong.”

’Come/crawl out of the woodwork’

The public’s ongoing fascination with a defamation trial involving two actors caused lookups for the idiom come out of the woodwork to increase greatly.

Amber Heard said she isn't surprised Kate Moss and others came 'out of the woodwork' to testify for Johnny Depp: 'That's his power’
— (headline) Insider.com, 26 May 2022

Come out of the woodwork (or crawl out of the woodwork) is defined as “to appear suddenly usually because one sees an opportunity to get something for oneself.” It has been in use since the early 20th century, dating back to at least 1930. It appears to have entered general use at about the same time as into the woodwork, another idiom, which is used to describe someone or something that is not noticed or that seems to disappear.

They were discussing one of those omniscient Broadway party-crashers—the sort that seems to crawl out of the woodwork everywhere. “The only way to keep him out,” said Bert Lahr, “is to use plenty of putty.”
— The Daily Home News (New Brunswick, NJ), 1 Dec. 1930

”Oh, if they all would only crawl back into the woodwork,” he moaned. “I’ve been working here ever since this bunch started giving their parties at the Waldorf, listening to their jokes, sweeping them out from under the tables when the show’s over.”
— The New York Herald Tribune, 23 May 1929

Words Worth Knowing: ‘shot-clog’

The week our word worth knowing is shot-clog, defined as “a bore tolerated only because he pays the shot.” In this case shot carries the meaning of  “a charge to be paid (as at a tavern).” Perhaps some of you have found yourselves sitting at a bar, engaged in conversation with some individual whose company you only tolerate because they are buying the drinks; now you know the word for this person.