The Words of the Week - Sept. 1

‘Backwardness’

Backwardness had a rare spike in lookups last week, after a number of newspaper stories reported that Pope Francis had applied the word to some Catholics in the United States.

Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.
— AP News, 28 Aug. 2023

Backwardness may be defined as “a state of being less advanced in development or accomplishment than what is typical or expected.” It is not a particularly new word; the oldest citation we have for it is more than 450 years old (and also comes from a religious disagreement).

And it is the special mischief of our English Church, and the chief cause of backwardnesse, and of all breach and dissention.
— John Whitgift, An admonition to the Parliament, 1572

‘Heckle’

Heckle also had a busy week, as the governor of Florida was himself heckled while speaking in public.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was heckled and booed as he was introduced to speak at a vigil Sunday for the victims of the Jacksonville shooting at a Dollar General store where a white gunman shot and killed three Black people.
— Rebecca Shabad, NBC News, 28 Aug. 2023

Heckle means “to harass and try to disconcert with questions, challenges, or gibes.” Despite the similarity in form there is no etymological connection between this word and heck. Heckle comes from the Middle English word hekelen (“to dress flax, scratch”), and heck is a euphemism for hell.

‘Supermoon’

A blue supermoon (which was neither blue, nor any more super and talented than the average moon) occurred Wednesday, sending many to the dictionary to find out just what was so super about it.

Rare Blue Supermoon Appears in Wednesday Night Sky
— (headline) The Wall Street Journal, 31 Aug. 2023

A supermoon is “a full moon occurring when the moon is at or near the closest point in its orbit”; it is not intrinsically superior to any other moon. This particular supermoon was also a blue moon, which is the name for a second full moon in a calendar month. The next blue supermoon will not come along for another 14 years.

‘Plagiarism’

Plagiarism trended in lookups last week, although not because of any particular newsworthy event; the word spikes every year around this time, as students return to school and are warned of the dire consequences of engaging in this.

Plagiarism is “the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person.” A person who plagiarizes is a plagiary. If you are interested in other words that spike at the beginning of every school year we have a list of them. And don’t be a plagiary.

Words Worth Knowing: ‘Podsnappery’

Our word worth knowing this week is podsnappery, defined as “an attitude toward life marked by complacency and a refusal to recognize unpleasant facts.” The word comes from the name of a character (Mr. Podsnap) in Our Mutual Friend, a novel by Charles Dickens.