Half Greek, Half Latin: Politics !*@!

C.P. Scott, a British journalist, publisher and politician was once quoted as saying: “Television?
No good will come of this device. The word is half Greek and half Latin. ”

Some of you might have wondered about the “good” of another device this week: the telephone. Although the origin of the word telephone is completely Greek, prior to the North Carolina primaries on Tuesday, I myself pondered its overall merits. In truth, I was ready to unhook the thing. Hounded by Hillary, barraged by Barak, I actually experienced a sense of relief after seeing the no message light on my answering machine Wednesday evening. Nothing like an election year to make one think about the meaning of the word campaign (especially, a Linguistics geek like me).

Ever think how appropriate it is that outside of politics, the word campaign is mostly used in the context of war? But it wasn’t always so. You have to go back pretty far to find its original sense, all the way back to the Roman Empire, where the word was once associated with beautiful Italian vistas.

To the Romans, it first meant a “tract of land, open country.” The original use still exists in Italian today. (The Italian word for “cause, crusade” and “countryside” is the same, campagna,
pronounced cam-pä-nya). The crusade sense developed in Late Latin, by association with the way armies advanced. Armies would typically move from protected areas out onto open fields (Latin campus) to battle one another.

Wouldn’t it be great to combine the two Italian senses of this word? Wouldn’t it be great to watch this year’s political debate from a sunny veranda in Tuscany?

If interested, you can read the origin of some other political terms below. I’ve included some pretty basic terms, a few more obscure borrowings, and even a coined term.

Democrat is comprised of the Greek words ‘demos’ meaning people and ‘kratos’ meaning rule or power.

Republican: Republic comes from Latin res publica, meaning an affair or matter of the “public,” the publicus.

Election comes via French and ultimately Latin electionem from earlier Latin eligere “to choose, pick out.”

Vote is from Latin votum, “vow, wish,” which actually was the word’s original meaning in English. It took on its current narrowed sense in the 15th century.

What about left wing and right wing? At the French National Assembly of 1789, members of the “first estate”, the conservative clergy, sat on the right side of the king. Members of the “third estate,” the commoners, including Jacobin radicals who sought to change the political regime, sat on the left side.

Filibuster is defined as the use of obstructionist tactics, especially via prolonged speech making, from the delaying of legislative action. It was taken from the Dutch word for “pirate,” vribuiter. Clearly, that borrowing coincided with a few sound changes.

Gerrymandering: to divide into voting districts to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election. It’s a blend of the name Elbridge Gerry and salamander and has an interesting back story. Elbridge Gerry was elected Massachusetts governor in 1810 and 1811. He was criticized for re-districting the state to the advantage of his own political party. As the shape of one of the new districts had the appearance of a mythical animal, which some claimed looked like a salamander, the news media named it a gerrymander.

By: Laurie Scott