The English noun "maxim" sounds like it should have something to do with a "greatest" or "biggest" or "maximal" thing. Instead, it means a general, even foundational rule. In today's episode, we look at the curious origins of "maxim" in Latin's superlative adjective maximus, which means "largest." As a more modern reflection, we revisit the criticism of the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford articulated by a particular ascendant political figure of the nineteenth century: Abraham Lincoln.

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

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Sometimes, English takes words directly from Latin: mea culpa, alma mater, et cetera. That's the case with today's word: dictator. Even if "dictator" has a rather simple etymology, it has a complex and fascinating political history, which includes infamous Romans like Sulla and Julius Caesar. To conclude, we look at Hannah Arendt's classic work The Origins of Totalitarianism, in which she provocatively claims that the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century should not, in fact, be called dictatorships but instead constitute a novel form of government.

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

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Today's world is full of "consultants" and "advisers" in the domains of business, politics, and even education. But the verb "consult" is an old one, coming directly into English from the Latin consulere. Its etymology, even in the ancient world, is pretty muddled, and this confusion persists today in the often-mistaken words "council" and "counsel." We also consider an essay by the American author Flannery O'Connor on the problems surrounding reading lists in English classrooms.

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

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https://originalpublicmeaning.com