connection between germander and gerrymander?
- Subject: connection between germander and gerrymander?
- From: Jennifer Dungan j*@pacbell.net
- Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 09:05:11 -0800
To those who may have heard otherwise, it looks like germander (Teucrium)
has not much to do with the word "gerrymander."
-JLD
----- Original Message -----
> >Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 00:03:56 -0500
> >From: Wordsmith <wsmith@wordsmith.org>
> >To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org
> >Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gerrymander
> >
> >gerrymander (JER-i-man-duhr) verb tr.
> >
> > To repartition an area in order to create electoral districts that
> > give an unfair advantage of a political party.
> >
> >noun
> >
> > 1. An instance of gerrymandering.
> >
> > 2. One or more electoral districts, widely differing in size or
> > population, created as a result to gerrymandering.
> >
> >[A blend of Elbridge Gerry and salamander. Massachusetts Governor Gerry's
> >party rearranged the electoral district boundaries and someone fancied
the
> >newly redistricted Essex County resembled a salamander. Gerry later
served
> >as a Vice President of the United States (1813-1814).]
> >
> > "But the champion gerrymandering comes from Illinois. Chicago has two
> > Hispanic areas. They are in different parts of the city, but that has
> > not discouraged the good politicians of Illinois from creating a
> > constituency consisting of these two areas only. They lie on either
side
> > of a black part of the city like the bread of a sandwich. Worst of
all
> > is the state's extraordinary 17th District, which is a crab."
> > United States: How to Rig an Election, The Economist (London), Apr
27,
> > 2002.
> >
> > "The same tendency to duck and weave has characterized the campaign.
> > Because the parties mutually agree to gerrymander most of the
country,
> > a shamefully small number of congressional districts are in play,
> > along with some key Senate seats."
> > Fifty-Fifty, The Washington Post, Nov 3, 2002.
> >
> >
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> >
> >Pronunciation:
> >http://wordsmith.org/words/gerrymander.wav
> >http://wordsmith.org/words/gerrymander.ram
