There are moments when you go, We live in a democracy! Why aren't the media speaking truth to power? Why aren't politicians doing something? Doesn't business care? And then you look at the people of Minneapolis and go, Oh, that's the meaning of democracy.

ICE. An abbreviation of the initial letters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gestapo. An abbreviation of the initial letters of Geheime Staatspolizei (Ge-Sta-Po). 🤔

@mashedradish.bsky.social chose "fascism" for his etymology of the year--it's from Italian "fascio," meaning "group," from Latin meaning "bundle."

Come for the WOTY. Stay to hear @benzimmer.bsky.social get challenged by @mashedradish.bsky.social to say "Lake Char­gog­ga­gogg­man­chaug­ga­gogg­chau­bu­na­gun­ga­maugg."

There are moments when you go, We live in a democracy! Why aren't the media speaking truth to power? Why aren't politicians doing something? Doesn't business care? And then you look at the people of Minneapolis and go, Oh, that's the meaning of democracy.

I mean, you learn the word "dictator" is from the Latin verb "dicere," meaning "to say, speak" and it seems abstract. Now, we see just how literal it can be. In his derangement, that man really thinks—nay, has been yes'd to think—he rules the world by saying so. Fiat. Decree. Edict.

ICE. An abbreviation of the initial letters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gestapo. An abbreviation of the initial letters of Geheime Staatspolizei (Ge-Sta-Po). 🤔

And on the heels of Teyana Taylor winning a Golden Globe for her stunning portrayal of Perfidia Beverly Hills in “One Battle After Another.”

PERFIDY. Recorded in the late 1500s in the sense of “treachery.” French via Latin “perfidia,” meaning “faithlessness.” Based on “perfidus" (treacherous, false), which combines “per” (through) and “fides” (faith). The notion is, apparently, deceiving through a show of faith or trust.

In a moment of unadulterated good today, I had my seventh graders share pictures of their favorites foods during a transition. The joy! Chicken adobo, paneer tikka, and, my word, shucos. The resounding favorite, though, was tortas. I dare you to defy them.

Man with a Newspaper - 1928 https://botfrens.com/collections/61/contents/1123724

This week I wrote about the origin of 'Venezuela.' The man credited with its name also lent his to 'America.' I think it's more likely a word in Arawakan, spoken by native Wayuu. Too pat, too colonial, an origin story makes me skeptical. Summary 🧵 below. Full post 👉 mashedradish.com/2026/01/09/v...

I keep meaning to note that that Sunday Scaries commercial gets the term wrong. It concerns the anxiety about work, not the chores you have to do on Sunday per se. Sure, having to do chores on the weekend calls to mind the stresses of work-life balance, but, like, laundry is not ‘a Sunday scary.’

Nero placed Kalshi bets on Rome burning.

Nero placed Kalshi bets while Rome burned.

“Keep pounding” is … a slogan.

If you were to rewrite the Gospel for today, you would find no more powerful, no more poignant, no more to-the-point version than this. My word.

We should remember, too, that the great city of Minneapolis is still healing from the mass shooting at the Church of the Annunciation last August.

"Respect your elders" means not making them have to download an app to park their car. It's a frickin' indignity, man.

Do it!

The biggest accomplishment of ‘The Pitt’ is putting forth a non-cringey, non-cynical positive male role model on must-see TV in 2025-26. It’s at once radical and really hard to pull off.

Seriously, though, and I know this is corny as hell, but I have found myself on more than one occasion in my real life asking myself, “How would Dr. Robby respond to this situation?”

Never try to predict the taste of a teen. There is no logic. Just give them stuff you find interesting.

“…if you have to, swear like you mean it. And if you really mean it, and voters can see it, you won't even need to.”

This being said, no one in Trump world should be allowed around children. As a teacher, I am a mandatory reporter.

Using my teacher voice on this clown: DO YOU THINK RIGHT NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO BE OUT OF OUR SEATS? I DID NOT THINK SO EITHER.

A class of kindergartners would eat all the Trump ghouls alive in under 5 seconds. Also, ponder a single one of ‘em even taking any joy in … anything not sadistic.

About to start using my goddamn TEACHER VOICE on this country.

The man believed to have named ‘Venezuela’ also lent his name to ‘America.’ Now on the blog: mashedradish.com/2026/01/09/v...

It was quite moving to see Braille’s tomb—except for his hands, which symbolically remained in his original burial place of Coupvray—in the crypt of the Panthéon in my visit to Paris late last year.

Inter multa alia, last year I read 'Final Harvest,' a selection of nearly 600 of Emily Dickinson's 1800 poems. Way back as an English major in undergrad, I focused on poetry, especially mid-century American activity viz. Black Mountain School, San Francisco Renaissance, New York School. -->

Emperors even straight-up murdered countless senators and they kept convening.

Once again, I find myself turning to etymology to process the news. (I’m not sure what, really, it does for me—or what it even means to be sharing it. But so I go on.) A short tread on the origin of 'regime' and related words:

With some incisive commentary from the likes of @misterslang.bsky.social, @lynneguist.bsky.social , and @jwdent.bsky.social:

Have a read and then have a listen to the episode we did on the rise of the WOTY as a 'thing' in the recent @lexispodcast.bsky.social episode with @mashedradish.bsky.social to compare notes. open.spotify.com/episode/5mJW...

Very interesting thread.

@thehighsign.bsky.social In the 2025 call-in ep, I was delighted by your "odd shelf" of artificial language books. Do you know about/been to the Esperanto Museum in Vienna? Linked to the Austrian National Library's extensive Department of Planned Languages! It's a gem: www.onb.ac.at/en/museums/e...

And “-wic” is thought to derive from “vicus”, the term for the civilian settlements that grew up around Roman forts.

New York could have been called … “New Everwich”?! Mamdani’s inauguration brought a few things—political, cosmological, and, yes, etymological—to mind. Let’s take them in order. 🧵

Superb etymological spaghetti from John. Give it a read, even if ( like me) you can't stand the song!

Here's a December-31st-related etymology: 'hogmanay', a primarily Scottish term for the day. Its history isn't crystal clear, but the evidence points to a French origin, specifically Old/Middle French aguillanneuf. This was an exclamation, partly composed of the words an 'year' and neuf 'new'.

How do you ring in the New Year? I like to party with some Old English grammar. On the blog, the 'syne' in 'Auld Lang Syne' sent me down the etymological rabbit hole of the adverbial genitive suffix '-s': mashedradish.com/2025/12/31/a...

👏👏👏

The changing meanings of symbols. We actually talked about this example in the latest @lexispodcast.bsky.social with @mashedradish.bsky.social! BBC News - How frogs went from right-wing meme to anti-ICE protest symbol www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Great thread here.

Did you see this stuff?

It makes me really, sincerely, unironically happy that Grace offers up her regular content in the form of a blog using WordPress. (It's what I do with Mashed Radish.) Not a substack. Not short-form video. Call it "slow content." I call it: nice, clean, clear content. Respect. Hell yeah.

This is the content I’m here for. Great thread.

Lois Lowry's 'The Giver' but it's just seasonal content.