The Words of the Week - Jan. 13

’Ban’

Reports that gas stoves would soon be forbidden, and the subsequent denial that this was so, sent searches for the word ban skyrocketing.

Backlash over speculation of a possible nationwide ban on gas stoves prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to clarify the agency's position on Wednesday. "Contrary to recent media reports, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the @USCPSC has no proceeding to do so," tweeted PCSC chair Alex Hoehn-Saric.
— Inese Ferré, Yahoo Finance, 11 Jan. 2023

Ban, when referring to such things as disallowing the use of gas stoves, may be defined as “to prohibit especially by legal means” and “to prohibit the use, performance, or distribution of.” The word comes from the Middle English bannen, which means (among other things) "to summon (troops) by proclamation, assemble (an armed force).”

’Latinx’

Latinx spiked in lookups last week, after the newly-elected governor of Arkansas signed an order prohibiting the use of this word in official state business.

Within hours of being sworn in as the new governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order Tuesday banning the term "Latinx" from official use in the state government.
— Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, 11 Jan. 2023

We define Latinx as “of, relating to, or marked by Latin American heritage —used as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina,” and suggest that it is primarily encountered as a written form. The most common way to pronounce Latinx is the same way you would Spanish-derived Latina or Latino but pronouncing the "x" as the name of the English letter X (something like \luh-TEE-neks\).

’Addendum’

Addendum also saw a good deal of use in political stories, when it was widely reported that the newly-elected speaker of the house, Kevin McCarthy, helped secure that position through an agreement with some representatives, codified in an addendum.

Punchbowl News on Monday first reported the existence of a three-page document outlining the terms, which it referred to as an "addendum." The whole thing remains shrouded in mystery: McCarthy is now reportedly denying the existence of an official “addendum.”
— Aaron Blake, The Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2023

Addendum means “a thing added,” although often the word is used to refer specifically to a section of a book added to the main or original text that might include explanation, comment, or supplementary material. When found in plural form addenda is more common, although addendums is also sometimes used.

’Ethics’

Ethics was in the news as well, following a move by the new House of Representatives to change the way that these are policed in Congress.

Republicans are facing criticism after voting for changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) that may significantly weaken its ability to investigate ethical violations by members of Congress.
— Alia Slisco, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2023

We define the relevant sense of ethics as “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group,” although the word has a number of closely-related meanings, such as “a set of moral principles” and “a guiding philosophy.” The word ethics is closely related in meaning to morals, but there are subtle distinctions between them. For instance, although both words are concerned with making a distinction between right and wrong, ethics tends to be concerned with a narrow scope (such as ‘we argued over the ethics of paying for an organ donation’), whereas morals may often be applied subjects with to a broader range (‘we argued about whether young people today had fewer morals than they did fifty years ago’).

’Classified’

Classified was also in the news last week, after it was discovered that information meriting this description had been discovered in Joe Biden’s home and an office connected with his tenure as the Vice-President.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an office in Washington.
— Zeke Miller, Associated Press, 12 Jan. 2023

Classified has a very literal definition (“divided into classes”) and also a somewhat broadened one (“withheld from general circulation for reasons of national security”). Classified material may be itself classified in various ways, such as confidential, secret, and top secret. We offer multiple meanings for all these words, but here are the ones that might apply to classified materials:
Confidential: containing information whose unauthorized disclosure could be prejudicial to the national interest.
Secret: containing information whose unauthorized disclosure could endanger national security.
Top secret: containing or being information whose unauthorized disclosure could result in exceptionally grave danger to the nation.

Words Worth Knowing: ‘Job’s Comforter’

Our word worth knowing this week is Job’s comforter, defined as “a person who discourages or depresses while seemingly giving comfort and consolation.” The word comes from the name of the biblical character (Job) who undergoes a series of tribulations in the Old Testament, and then has a number of friends who comfort him in notably awkward fashion.