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The word inauguration can be traced back to the early Roman Republic (510 BC – 27 BC). In the early Roman Republic, all major decisions, such as when to go to war, and who to appoint to positions of power...
This derivative of the Old Norse word jol made its way into Old English as geol, originally designating a two-month midwinter feast. Like many holidays, European conversion to Christianity rendered it a religious festival and the word geol – and...
NOËL A term signifying the holiday season, Noël comes to us from the Latin verb nasci, meaning “to be born.” In the book of Ecclesiastes, the birth of Jesus is called natalis. A variation of this word, nael, made its...
X-mas If you’ve seen Stephen Colbert’s recent Christmas special, you may think that Xmas is a term only used by militant athiests who are waging a culture-war against Christmas. In fact, this abbreviation of the word “Christmas” came about in...
Like many modern holidays, the history of Halloween links an ancient pagan ritual with the Christian effort to eradicate it, ending in the repackaged consumer holiday we know today. Halloween began as the ancient Gaelic holiday of Samhain. On the...
As the financial crisis gains momentum and uncertainty reigns over the markets, we tend to look at stock market behavior as a barometer of the economic environment. After yet another stock roller-coaster day, stockholders are more uncertain about tomorrow. The...
There is no doubt that when the candidates get together tonight for the third and final debate, they will focus on the state of the economy. Like many words frequently used in matters of state and government, economy has its...
Now that the U.S. has entered into the final weeks of a long presidential campaign, let’s take a closer look at the language we use to describe the process. The etymology of the word campaign reflects a military history dating...
Who is a barbarian? The word barbarian was used originally by the Greeks to refer to any non-Greek: Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Celts, Germans, Phoenicians, Etruscans, Macedonians, Carthaginians, Vikings, Goths – all of these became known as barbarians. The ancient Greek...
The word quarantine — used in modern English to designate a period of time when a group of people or materials is isolated from its surroundings — has several cultural and semantic stories ascribed to it. With the French quarantaine...
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