For reasons unbeknownst to me and which I never hope to understand, Channel 4 insists on bringing us the periodical whipping, guffawing and jingling festivities known locally as horse racing, which rudely takes the place of Countdown and the mental stimulation that that programme brings. 'But don't you see, young man, we give the beasts exercise!' a man with whiskers and a hat attempts, continuing, 'Just imagine the poor state they would be in if we didn't take them out of the sloth of the fields and feed them up and make them strong!' The argument he makes is apparently well-rehearsed, by the easy and forceful manner with which he delivers it. And yet he isn't finished, 'And why shouldn't I come and spend my well-earned money on them, urging them on with all my lungs, and in the process exercising my powers of statistics, arithmetic and odds?' The simple answer takes the form of a question: 'Would you enjoy being whipped around a racing course in order to further line the pockets of those who come and bet and shout you on?' Not being an imperialist, I readily acknowledge that differing replies will come from different people, with those being followers and those opposers providing different answers.
The outcome of this moral and scheduling blunder on the part of Channel 4 has meant that Susie isn't here today for me to enjoy her Origin of Words, and so I cannot be inspired by her for my own Word of the Week. Thus I must recourse to the traditional method of me coming up with a word on my own.
Word of the Week
Etymology
etymology n. (pl. -ies) 1 a the historically verifiable sources of the formation of a word and the development of its meaning. b an account of these. 2 the branch of linguistic science concerned with etymologies.
Definition courtesy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary
