As “post time” for my weekly TC diary approaches, it seems as if I always go through a moment of panic.
After all, two zillion ideas on a possible topic swirl through my mind yet, at the same time, there’s nothing in my mind that seems to warrant anything like a Top Comments diary or even a comment in a TC diary.
So this week, I owe a special thanks to Daily Kos Front Pager Joan McCarter for this diary and this specific sentence.
There's a special focus in the story on the disappearance of acting chief of staff and Trump dogsbody Mick Mulvaney
Dogsbody? Had never seen the word before.
Never heard the word in conversation.
I did linger over the sentence and the word a bit, tempted to guess at the meaning by treating it as a compound word. Was Ms. McCarter calling Mulvaney a lazy-ass mutt or something? So...I had to look the word up and what I found….surprised me a bit but first…
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dogsbody
a person who has to do all the boring or unpleasant jobs that other people do not want to do
Oooooooohhh, British English...the word even has a Wikipedia page.
The Royal Navy used dried peas and eggs boiled in a bag (pease pudding) as one of their staple foods circa the early 19th century. Sailors nicknamed this item "dog's body". In the early 20th century, junior officers and midshipmen who performed jobs that more senior officers did not want to do began to be called "dogsbodies".[1] The term became more common in non-naval usage c. 1930, referring to people who were stuck with rough work.[1]
(Although I do have to say...wouldn’t that be the general description of anyone that works for The Damn Fool?)
I love words and etymologies. And I especially love to learn new words; to this day, I will underline or highlight any new word that I come across or note it in one of the little journals that I usually carry around.
And the etymologies can make the word and its associations even more interesting at times.
For example, I had a disliking of the common meaning of the word “grace” for a very long time, mostly because of its’ religious connotations and the fact that I heard the word more than I really cared to.
Then one day, I decided to look up...not the word “grace” but the etymology of the word “gratitude”
I am not sure what possesed me to look up the etymology of the word “grace” a few days or weeks later but I did.
Same Latin root; both concepts are embedded in the concept of -gwere...which I find...helpful and even reassuring, at times...at least when someone talks of having or possessing “grace,” at least I no longer roll my eyes or simply think of The Graces of Greek mythology.
Now...if only we could have the grace to be relieved of The Damn Fool and his whole and entire administration of dogbodys.
I’d be grateful for that!
Comments below the fold.
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From Indyada:
This comment thread setup started by nehill was knocked outta da park by Dixie Liberal. From rude’s recommended post on how the White House sent Democrats Republican talking points a second time.
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