Words of the Week - March 25

’Secretary of State’

Secretary of state trended in lookups last week, after the death of Madeleine Albright, the first woman to hold this position in the United States.

Madeleine Albright, a Czech immigrant who went on to become the first female secretary of state in US history, has died aged 84.
— BBC, 23 Mar. 2022

We define secretary of state in two ways: “the head of the U.S. government department that is in charge of how the country relates to and deals with foreign countries” and “the head of one of several important departments of the British government.” The sense of secretary found here is one that we define as “an officer of state who superintends a government administrative department.” The earliest meaning of secretary, dating back to the 14th century, is a pleasingly literal one: “one entrusted with the secrets or confidences of a superior.”

’Hatch Act’

The Hatch Act was also in the news last week, after it appeared to play a role in the request for Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker to resign their government positions.

The Biden administration requested the resignation of Herschel Walker and Dr. Mehmet Oz from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Wednesday night, saying they would be fired if they did not do so. Members of the council are considered special government employees and under the Hatch Act, “may not be a candidate for nomination or election to public office in a partisan election.”
— Des Bieler and Cindy Boren, The Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2022

We have an entry for Hatch Act in our legal dictionary that reads as follows: “aimed at eliminating corrupt practices in national elections. It was sponsored by Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico following disclosures that Works Progress Administration officials were using their positions to win votes for the Democratic Party. The Hatch Act forbade intimidation or bribery of voters and restricted political-campaign activities by federal employees. As amended in 1940, it also severely limited contributions by individuals to political campaigns and spending by campaign committees.”

’Tornado’

Many people turned to the dictionary to look up tornado, after one of these appeared in New Orleans.

Residents of Arabi, Louisiana, once again found themselves picking up the pieces in the wake of a natural disaster, following a tornado that rampaged through the New Orleans metropolitan area late Tuesday night and destroyed dozens of homes.
— Allison Finch, AccuWeather, 24 Mar. 2022

The first definition we give for tornado is “a violent destructive whirling wind accompanied by a funnel-shaped cloud that progresses in a narrow path over the land.” The word is also used in other, occasionally less specific, senses, and so additional definitions include “a violent windstorm,” “a tropical thunderstorm” (an archaic use), and “a squall accompanying a thunderstorm in Africa.”

If you are interested in the technical definitions of other types of violent weather here are some:

Cyclone:  a storm or system of winds that rotates about a center of low atmospheric pressure, advances at a speed of 20 to 30 miles (about 30 to 50 kilometers) an hour, and often brings heavy rain

Hurricane:  a tropical cyclone with winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour or greater that is usually accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning, and that sometimes moves into temperate latitudes

Typhoon: a hurricane occurring especially in the region of the Philippines or the China sea

’Overtones’ & ‘Undertones’

The confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson drew considerable coverage this week, and a number of people noted that news outlets seemed to be quite interested in finding ways to not quite use the word racist. Also noted was that the questions that were described as racially tinged could be referred to as either overtones or as undertones.

Jackson endures questioning with racial overtones from GOP senators
— (headline) The Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2022

There was also a palpable racial undertone to some of the questions.
— Stephen Collinson, CNN, 23 Mar. 2022

Overtone and undertone illustrate that words may have prefixes that are antonyms, yet not be antonymous themselves. Among the definitions for overtone are “a secondary effect, quality, or meaning,” and among those for undertone_ we find “a quality (as of emotion) underlying the surface of an utterance or action.”

’Jackassery’

The hearings also caused a spike in lookups for the word jackassery, after a senator from Nebraska used the word.

Sen. Sasse (R-NE) says he believes it should be up to the Supreme Court to decide if cameras are allowed in the courtroom, adding:

“I think we should recognize the jackassery we often see around here is partly because of people mugging for short-term camera opportunities." pic.twitter.com/BxXaw1UX4D

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 23, 2022

We define jackassery as “a piece of stupidity or folly; doltishness.” The word appears to have come into use in the 1830s, initially found in London magazines and newspapers.

The genius of jackassery is not always to rule us in an avatar of Althorp.
— Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country (London, Eng.), May 1833

Words You Should Know: ‘Velleity’

As the pandemic continues to not go away, more and more people are wondering if there is a word that describes the state of ‘I can’t be bothered to do more than the absolute minimum, and I barely managed to get myself into sweatpants today.’ For you, we have the word velleity, defined as “the lowest degree of volition or desire.” Many of you over the course of the past two years have achieved a visceral understanding of what velleity is, and now you know the word for it

The classic word for it is velleity. It is a chronic symptom in our laid-back San Diego. It means that we have shared some wish to make San Diego an even better city, but that we ourselves have done nothing at all to make it happen.
— Neil Morgan, The San Diego Union, 3 Sept. 2003