The Words of the Week - September 13

‘Tartrazine’

Tartrazine had possibly its best week ever for lookups following the publication of an unusual and widely reported study involving mice.

Scientists have discovered a surprisingly simple way to potentially peer inside the body, using a common yellow food dye found in Doritos to create see-through mice. In a series of experiments that could have been plucked from the pages of science fiction, researchers at Stanford University massaged a solution containing tartrazine, the chemical found in the food dye known as “yellow No. 5,” onto the stomachs, scalps and hind legs of mice. About five minutes later, the opaque skin of the mice transformed temporarily into a living window, revealing branching blood vessels, muscle fibers and contractions of the gut, the researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science.
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7 Sept. 2024

We define tartrazine in our medical dictionary as “a yellow azo dye that is used in making organic pigments and in coloring foods and drugs and that sometimes causes bronchoconstriction in individuals with asthma.” Nothing here about see-through rodents, but life comes at you fast.

‘Tariff’

Lookups for tariff have been high this week, likely due in part to reporting on former president Donald Trump’s promises to enact steep tariffs should he be elected in November, as well as the mention of tariffs during the presidential debate.

Mr. Trump has long maintained that imposing tariffs on foreign products can protect American factories, narrow the gap between what the United States exports and what it imports, and bring uncooperative foreign governments to heel. … Economists have been skeptical of many of these assertions. While tariffs generate some level of revenue, in many cases they could create only a small amount of the funding needed to pursue some of the goals that Mr. Trump has outlined. In other cases, they say, tariffs could actually backfire on the U.S. economy, by inviting retaliation from foreign governments and raising costs for consumers.
— Ana Swanson, The New York Times, 10 Sept. 2024

We provide a range of meanings for tariff, including “a schedule of duties imposed by a government on imported or in some countries exported goods,” “a schedule of rates or charges of a business or a public utility,” and “price, charge.” Tariff came into English at the end of the 16th century, borrowed from the Italian tariffa, which itself came from the Arabic word taʽrīf, meaning “notification.”

‘Bait’

Tuesday night’s debate between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris led to dramatically increased lookups for a number of words, including bait, which appeared prominently in post-debate recaps and analysis.

Harris put Trump on the defensive about issues like abortion and his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin, as well as successfully baiting him into responding to a taunt about crowd sizes at his rallies.
— Flynn Nicholls, Newsweek, 11 Sept. 2024

Over the course of almost two hours Tuesday night, the Vice President effectively needled the former President on his deepest insecurities while painting a clear choice for voters. Trump in response repeatedly took the bait and doubled down, leading him to go on wild tangents, engage in angry outbursts, and relitigate old battles.
— Philip Elliott, Time, 11 Sept. 2024

“In a Fierce Debate, Harris Baits a Defensive Trump”
— (headline), The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2024

We define the relevant sense of the verb bait as “to try and make angry with criticism and insults.” The sense of the noun bait as it applies to arguments or debates is synonymous with lure and temptation. The verb form entered English first, coming from the Old Norse beita meaning “to cause to bite.” One might expect, then, one of the literal senses of bait, such as “to harass (an animal) with dogs for sport” or “to furnish (a hook or trap) with food in order to attract and catch fish or animals.” The earliest use of bait in English, however, was figurative: “to persecute or exasperate with persistent attacks.” This sense is both still in use today, and closely related to the “try to make angry” sense. The noun bait entered English later with its literal meaning of “something (such as food) used as a lure,” influenced by two Old Norse nouns: beit, meaning “pasturage,” and beita, meaning “food.”

‘Unconscionable’

Unconscionable was another word that saw increased lookups during the debate after it was used by Vice President Harris.

Trump has made contradictory statements about abortion. He has repeatedly boasted that he appointed the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe. He has said he believes the matter should be decided by the states and that he would not support a federal ban. But he has also said that he would support a federal prohibition after a certain length of pregnancy, prompting Harris to say Trump is not trustworthy about the issue and his acts have been “unconscionable.”
— Seema Mehta, The Los Angeles Times, 10 Sept. 2024

We define three senses of the adjective unconscionable: the oldest sense, used in English since the 16th century, “not guided or controlled by conscience,” as well as “shockingly unfair or unjust” and “excessive or unreasonable.”

Word Worth Knowing: ‘Peeper’

Peep this: there are peepers and then there are peepers, and fall—which is fast approaching—is a time for both.

First we have the peeper that is defined broadly as “one that makes a peeping sound.” This peeper comes from the verb peep, “to utter a feeble shrill sound as of a bird newly hatched,” which comes from the Middle English word pepen and is of imitative origin. Peeper is often used to refer to the spring peeper, a small brown tree frog of the eastern U.S. and Canada. If you live within these peepers’ range, you may have noticed them singing for one or two nights for the first time since their mating season in the spring. As writer and ecologist Michael J. Caduto explains:

There are several schools of thought as to why peepers and other frogs sing in the fall. One hypothesis: the shorter day length and steeper angle of the sun create conditions of natural light that are similar to those that occur during the vernal mating season. When a stretch of autumn weather arrives that is warm and wet enough for frogs to become active, some of them respond with song to these spring-like environmental cues.
— Michael J. Caduto, The Burlington (Vermont) Free Press, 14 Sept. 2016

The second peeper is the one that makes up part of the compound word leaf peeper, which refers to someone who visits wooded areas in the fall to view the changing colors of the foliage. This peeper traces back to a different Middle English pepen, which is thought to perhaps be an alteration of the verb piken, meaning “to peek.” If you are among the many who enjoy leaf-peeping, keep an ear out for spring peepers in the evening.