all words have an origin somewhere...

[acroyear]

sometimes apocryphal ("for unlawful carnal knowledge", for example), sometimes documented.  An interesting documented one i read about today: gerrymander. From today's Post Sunday Outlook:

[...]the early-19th-century Massachusetts politician Elbridge Gerry redrew a state Senate seat to his party's advantage in a shape that looked like a salamander

go fig.

i wonder if it was submitted to reader's digest before it became popular?  or sniglets? ;-)

Comments

[kmusser]

I remember that one from one of my American History texts during school, I think it was popularized at the time by a political cartoon poking fun at his plan.