Word: originated
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...nearest to an origin is that it was originally short for genuine. Always in any service there are lots of rumors flying around, so someone comes in and says "I have some 'gen,' " meaning I have something that is genuine. But it has been messed around quite a bit, with the result that today it has many meanings and many applications. To "gen up" means to study. A fellow who purveys "gen" is known as a "gen wallah." If he dishes out good "gen," he is a "pukka gen wallah." If he dishes out bad "gen," then...
...Religious and intellectual freedom. ("Wars are not due only to economic causes. They have their origin also in false ideologies and in ignorance. ... It is therefore indispensable that there exist the opportunity to fuller knowledge of the facts. . . . Spiritual and intellectual regimentation that prevents this is a basic underlying cause...
That word "damchee" had the experts stumped for a long time. Considerable research last week revealed the meaning: "a profligate American." Origin: when U.S. troops first arrived at the base with pocketfuls of pay-day rupees, they hired tongas for sightseeing; at the end of a ride, after being told that the price was two rupees, the Americans would toss a ten-rupee note (about $3) to the tongawalla, remarking: "Damn cheap...
Proposer Lambert and Laborite John Tinker, who had seconded the nomination, then advanced purposefully on Brown, to drag him from his seat. As Brown made the requisite gesture of protest, the two men seized his arms, separated him from his chair. (Origin of this tradition: during the 15th Century, Speakers were apt to be hanged by the King, so a new Speaker was understandably reluctant...
...Buccaneer. The U.S., for two decades, had largely believed in a fairy story, of Marxist origin-the legend that international bankers sucked the nation into a war which was none of its business, that U.S. participation in that war had been a mistake, which must never be repeated. The work of the Nye committee, the defaulted war debts, the failure of the League of Nations, the legend of the "Merchants of Death" all made for disillusionment, and out of that came the national attitude of cynicism toward the world, expressed as isolationism...