WORDNOOK
BY THE EDITORS OF MERRIAM-WEBSTER
THE INSIDE SCOOP
it’s not clear how this use might have been translated into the “inDear Editor: side information” sense. It could be An associate of mine sometimes that skinny was meant to suggest talks about getting the skinny when straight, unembellished facts, referring to getting all the inforstripped of any verbal padding. mation on a subject. Can you shed In any case, this use of skinny has some light on this particular usage? continued to gain in popularity, K. O. and it now occurs fairly commonly. West Orange, New Jersey
NO TURNING BACK
Dear Editor: Would you kindly explain the origin of the expression crossing the Rubicon? K. L. Petersburg, Virginia
The use of skinny to mean “inside information” originated in American slang. As is the case with many slang terms, the story of exactly when and why it first occurred is mysterious. Our evidence suggests that its origins may be nautical. Our earliest example of this use of skinny is from 1938, in a book whose author tells of his adventures as a merchant seaman. At one point he wonders, “had she really given me the skinny of an actual legend?” Another possible nautical connection is suggested by an earlier use of skinny by midshipmen at the Naval Academy in Annapolis to refer to the subjects of physics and chemistry, although
The expression crossing the Rubicon has been used in English since the early 17th century for an irrevocable act or decision. Its origin, however, is many centuries earlier, in Roman history. The Rubicon is a small river that once served as the boundary between the province of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy itself. Julius Caesar was the military governor of the province in the year 50 B.C., when the Ro-
man Senate made some decisions favoring his rival Pompey, governor of Spain. Caesar led his troops to the Rubicon in January of the next year, and when he crossed it, he committed the first act of war in a civil war that would see both Caesar and Pompey assassinated and would last for some 19 years. At the crossing of the Rubicon, Caesar is supposed to have uttered the Latin words usually rendered in English as the die is cast, thus giving us yet another proverbial expression.
TALKING BUSINESS
Dear Editor: Could you please explain the terms poison pill, greenmail and golden parachute as they are used on Wall Street? N. S. Golden, Colorado A poison pill is a financial tactic used by a company to avoid a hostile takeover by another corporation or an investor. A variety of tactics may be used by the target company to effectuate a poison pill
defense, such as the assumption of heavy debt or the issuance of certain kinds of stock to make outstanding stock less valuable. These tactics are designed to make the raider fear that it may be poisoned financially by swallowing the target company. In some circumstances a raider has no intention of actually taking over a company, and is instead engaging in greenmail. This is the name given to the raiders’ practice of buying a great quantity of a company’s stock, thus engendering fear of a takeover, and then demanding higher than market value prices for the repurchase of the stock by the company. A golden parachute is an agreement ensuring that an executive will receive a large lump sum or other valuable consideration upon stepping down after a takeover.
Send correspondence regarding Word Nook to: Language Research Service P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102
Test Your Mental Mettle with Puzzles from BANANA FILLING
BUNCH OF BANANAS LEVEL
to each of the words below
For each word below, rearrange the letters to spell two
and then rearrange the letters in each
new words that are both kinds of food. For example,
word to form a new six-letter word.
TRAPEZII becomes ZITI and PEAR.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. RANCID, DEADLY, MALTED, PARDON 2. CORN, OAT 3. BEAN, SOUP 4. MEAT, RIBS 5. TART, BRIE
ANSWERS: workman.com
ANSWERS: 1. TACO, FRIES
Add a
LEVEL
MORE BANANAGRAMS! and other Bananagrams titles are available wherever books are sold. BANANAGRAMS is a registered trademark of Bananagrams Inc. | WORKMAN is a registered trademark of Workman Publishing Co., Inc.