The etymology of "convention" is simple enough—it means a "coming together," combining the Latin roots for "together" and "to come." But how does this idea of a physical meeting develop into our idea of customary practices and social norms? We look at a brilliant passage from Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America for clarification.

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Music: Adapted from Sonatine by Maurice Ravel, performed by Irene Posviatovska (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

The word ectoplasm, for people of a particular age, will undoubtedly bring the Ghostbusters franchise to mind. But the word has a longer history, stretching from its ancient Greek roots to modern spiritual quackery. Here, we look to Arthur Conan Doyle and Ralph Ellison for understanding what it means to be invisible or real, fabricated or true.

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Music: Adapted from Sonatine by Maurice Ravel, performed by Irene Posviatovska (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

A quip is a little, witty remark, but it's also a bit of Latin that has sneaked into English. In today's episode, we consider all those qu- words in Latin like quis and quae to help understand the underlying meaning of "quip." We look, too, at the opening of Vergil's Aeneid for an example of a quip hiding in plain sight.

Suggest a word for a future episode or support this podcast at https://originalpublicmeaning.com or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wordswordswords

Music: Adapted from Sonatine by Maurice Ravel, performed by Irene Posviatovska (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)