Cad, Bounder & Rotter

Cad (pronounced kad)

(1) A local town boy or youth, as contrasted with a university or public school student.

(2) A man who behaves in a dishonorable or irresponsible way, especially towards women (now rare but not yet archaic). 

(3) A servant at a university or public school.

(4) In architecture and engineering, as CAD, the acronym for Computer Aided (or Assisted) Design.

(5) In medicine, as CAD, the acronym for Coronary Artery Disease.

(6) In computing, an abbreviation for the Ctrl+Alt+Del keyboard combination.

(7) In currency trading (ForEx), as CAD$, the code of the Canadian dollar

(8) In EU financial regulation as CAD1 & CAD2, the acronyms for Capital Adequacy Directives.

(9) A person who stood at the door of an omnibus to open and shut it, and to receive fares; bus conductor (UK archaic).

1730: A shortening of cadet, used originally of servants, later (1831) of town boys by students at Oxford and English public schools (though curiously, at Cambridge alone it meant "snob"), then "townsman" generally.  Between 1780-1790, it came to be adopted as a shortening of “caddie” (used to describe “a person who runs errands and does odd jobs”, a use thought of Scottish origin from the boys who carried clubs for golfers).  The Scots picked up caddie from the French cadet, from the dialectal capdet (chief, captain), from the Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput (head).  Cad seems, in the mid nineteen century (documented 1838-1868) also to have meant a "person lacking in finer feelings" but this use faded, replaced by other words as cad came to be applied mostly to upper class men behaving badly.  The related forms are caddish, caddishly & caddishness.

A CAD rendering (right) of Herbie, published on the GrabCAD Community site.  CAD (Computer Aided (or Assisted) Design) systems used to be the (very expensive) preserve of architects and engineers, the most sophisticated systems usually maintained by corporations.  Now, thanks in part to open source software, professional quality CAD systems are available to hobbyists, used often in conjunction with 3D printers.

Bounder (pronounced boun-der)

(1) A person who is thought to have attempted, to have bounded to a higher social strata, often based on newly acquired wealth; social climber.

(2) A person, beast or thing that bounds.

(3) A dishonourable, morally reprehensible man (archaic, replaced by cad).

(4) That which limits; a boundary (technical use only).

1535–1545: Originally an English slang term applied to a “person of objectionable social behaviour”, it came by the late nineteenth century (attested 1882) to describe a “would-be stylish person”, a sense later extended to bounding (uninvited as it were) from a lower to higher social class to another), the implication being such social mobility is possible but depended on the bounder being accepted by the higher class.

The construct is bound + -er.  Bound is from the Middle English bound & bund (preterite) and bounden, bunden, ibunden & ȝebunden (past participle) from the Old English bund-& bunden (ġebunden) respectively.  The –er suffix is from the Middle English –er & -ere, from the Old English -ere, from the Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, thought likely a borrowing from the Latin ārius.  Use was reinforced by the synonymous but unrelated Old French –or & -eor (the Anglo-Norman variant was -our) from the Latin -(ā)tor, from the primitive Indo-European -tōr.

Rotter (pronounced rot-ah)

A person thoroughly bad, worthless, objectionable, unpleasant, or despicable.

1889: The construct is rot(t) + er.  Rot is from the Middle English rotten & roten from the Old English rotian (to rot, become corrupted, ulcerate, putrefy), from the Proto-Germanic rutāną (to rot).  The –er suffix is from the Middle English –er & -ere, from the Old English -ere, from the Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, thought likely a borrowing from the Latin ārius.  Use was reinforced by the synonymous but unrelated Old French –or & -eor (the Anglo-Norman variant was -our) from the Latin -(ā)tor, from the primitive Indo-European -tōr.  Since use was first documented in the late nineteenth century, meaning has never shifted from "person deemed objectionable on moral grounds".

In the hierarchy of linguistic moral disapprobation, rotter is handy because it condemns someone as unambiguously bad.  There are synonyms such as scamp, rascal or rogue which can be applied humorously or affectionately (though usually with a sympatric adjective) but a rotter is just bad.  This probably applies too to disparagements like blackguard, creep, villain & scoundrel but they do rely on some specific conduct to justify the appellation whereas a rotter can be thought a rotter for no particular reason; they’re just a rotter.

Cad, bounder or rotter?

Lindsay Lohan with notorious rotter Harvey Weinstein (b 1952).

Former US film producer, co-founder in 1979 of film & television production & distribution company Miramax and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein is probably regarded by most as having ticked all the cad, bounder & rotter boxes.  Opinions may vary on whether one label should be lent more emphasis than another but it doubtful many would think none are applicable.  

The word cad evolved in the British class system and once was a general cultural put-down, based on it being an earlier descriptor of the servant-class and thus carrying the implication of a lack of finer tastes or manners but other words proved more attractive for this and, by early in the twentieth century, cad had come to refer to a man who behaves in a dishonorable or irresponsible way, especially toward women.  The British class system’s put-downs however are in themselves nuanced, class-based things and the point about cad was it applied only to the well-bred, chaps aware of the gentlemanly codes, but who failed to live up to them.

Barnaby Joyce with his (now estranged) wife and four daughters.

There were thus no cads in the working class or the middle classes because, knowing no better, they couldn’t be blamed; they knew not what they did.  Those from the lower classes (and especially the aspirational middle-class) certainly could be bounders and anyone could be a rotter but to be a cad, one had to come from the upper strata.  The shift in meaning from earlier times was noted by Anthony West in his biography (Aspects of Life (1984)) of his father, HG Wells (1866–1946), a man of modest origins.  In the nineteenth century of Wells’ youth, a cad was “…a jumped-up member of the lower classes who was guilty of behaving as if he didn't know that his lowly origin made him unfit for having sexual relationships with well-bred women.”  Now, Wells would be called a bounder but not a cad.

The Honorable Barnaby Joyce (b 1967; variously thrice Deputy Prime-Minister of Australia (between local difficulties), 2016-2022), House of Representatives, Canberra ACT, Australia, 2018.  Definitely a cad but not a bounder and opinions will be divided on whether or not he's a rotter.  Some will be forever convinced while the more thoughtful might concede he was one of those chaps who "could be a bit of a rotter"

Spectrum condition: The redness in the face of the honourable Barnaby Joyce (b 1967; thrice (between local difficulties) deputy prime minister of Australia 2016-2022) is used by his colleagues to gauge where his state of mind lies in the adjectival progression of the plethoric (left), the more plethoric (comparative; centre) and the most plethoric (superlative; right).

In mid 2024 Mr Joyce announced he'd given up alcohol, the abstinence inspired by an earlier "incident" in which he was filmed lying drunk on the footpath (sidewalk) next to a Canberra planter box, conducting a mumbled, expletive-laden conversation with his wife.  He said he'd since lost 15 kg (33 lb) and given up smoking (it not known if politicians lie about such claims).  Interestingly, political scientists seem generally to expect the well-publicized event (one of a number featuring Mr Joyce) would probably result in him increasing his margin at the next election (sprawled drunk in a city street making him "authentic" and "relatable").  When interviewed, the once "notorious drunkard" said: "Maybe at some stage I’ll have a beer again, but at the moment, nah".

Ensorcell

Ensorcell (pronounced en-sawr-suhl)

(1) To bewitch; to cast a spell.

(2) Figuratively, (ie not involving witchcraft proper), a  woman's ability to captivate or enchant another (historically a man or men).

1535–1545: From the French ensorceller, from the Middle French ensorceler (to bewitch), a dissimilated variant of the Old French ensorcerer, the construct of which was en- (from Old French en-, a prefixation of Latin in (in, into)) + the verb from sorcier (sorcerer; wizard).  The ultimate root of sorcier was the Latin sors (fate, lot; oracular response; destiny, fate or fortune of an individual), from the primitive Indo-European ser- (to bind).  The alternative spelling is ensorcel.  Ensorcell & ensorcelling  are verbs, ensorcelled is a verb & adjective and ensorcellment is a noun; the noun plural is ensorcellments.  In English, the French verb ensorceler has been used as a noun.  

Despite the pedigree of the words from which it comes reaching back to antiquity. the verb ensorcell (to cast a spell or bewitch) didn’t appear in English until the sixteenth century and then only briefly, use not revived until the nineteenth century when the explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) included it in The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince, a translation of a title of one of the Arabian Nights Tales (1885).  Ensorcell had appeared in Henry Torrens’ (1806-1852) earlier (partial translation) The Book of The Thousand Nights and One Nights (1838) which Burton had read and admired.  Prior to this, the only known instance in English was in George Puttenham's (1529-1590) Arte of English Poesie (1589), which was reprinted in the early nineteenth century and Torrens may have picked it up from there.  Thanks to the efforts of Burton, Torrens and others, in the imagination of the West, the art of ensorcellment became much associated with the women of the East, one of the themes Edward Said (1935-2003) would explore in his still controversial Orientalism (1979).

Victims

“She came forward swaying from side to side and coquettishly moving and indeed she ravished wits and hearts and ensorcelled all eyes with her glances.”  (The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince in Arabian Nights stories (1885) by "Scheherazade", translated by Sir Richard Burton).

Ensorcell is one of those words in English which may have proved useful had it ever come into general use but it remained rare and now inhabits the niche of translations of exotic texts or tales of witchcraft and sorcery.  For most purposes the many alternatives are preferable:  hypnotize, fascinate, enthrall, stupefy, tickle, bewitch, captivate, please, delight, beguile, cajole, wow, enrapture, attract, mesmerize, enamor, gratify, charm, entice & thrill.  However, the word can be used to discuss men who are victims of beguiling women and there have been many:

Men who have been victims of ensorcellment, clockwise from top left: Bill Clinton (b 1946; US president 1993-2001) with Monica Lewinsky (b 1973); Barnaby Joyce (b 1967; thrice (between local difficulties) deputy prime minister of Australia 2016-2022) with Vikki Campion (b 1985), Welsh actor Richard Burton (1925–1984) with Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011) (depicted here by Grant Bowler (b 1968) with Lindsay Lohan (b 1986) on-set in Cleopatera (1963) (Liz & Dick, 2012); & Daryl Maguire (b 1959, MLA (Liberal) for Wagga Wagga 1999-2018) with Gladys Berejiklian (b 1970; Premier (Liberal) of New South Wales 2017-2021).

Bill Clinton was one of the best & brightest minds ever to become POTUS but he was way too simple for Washington DC.  Anyone from New York could have told him there are low-risk ways to have affairs but if you have a fling with with a Jewish girl from Beverly Hills it's going to cost you something sometime.  So he's a victim but has only himself to blame, having already been ensorcelled by crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013).

Barnaby Joyce was a happily married man with four daughters until ensorcelled by his media advisor (a profession which appears to regard ensorcellment as a calling given their history with other National Party politicians).  Still, the adulterous couple later married and their two children were able to attend the wedding so all's well that end's well.

The other Richard Burton was the Welsh actor ensorcelled by fellow thespian Elizabeth Taylor.  As his turbulent life would suggest he wasn't one to learn from his mistakes because she managed twice to ensorcell him, their first marriage (1964-1974) enduring a little over ten years, the second (1975-1976) a bare ten months.  It was Dr Johnson (Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)) who said “A second marriage is a triumph of hope over experience.” and Burton doubtless knew of the quote so he too has only himself to blame.  When he died at 58 after decades of heavy drinking, it was said of him his body was like that of Randolph Churchill (1911-1968) who expired at 57: "Everything was just worn-out."

Gladys Berejiklian's ensorcellment of Daryl Maguire didn't end well with the former premier resigning after being found by the NSW Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) to have acted corruptly for, inter alia, an act of Billigung.  In the court of public opinion she did rather better, the consensus being something between "she was too good for him" and "what on earth was she doing with him?"  On-line and in print, there was much sympathy for her from other ensorcelers, anxious to assure her she wasn't alone and "every woman has had a Daryl"  Nobody seemed to express any sympathy for Mr Maguire so clearly the verdict was to "blame the victim".

Putsch

Putsch (pronounced poo-ch)

A (usually violent) sudden uprising; a political revolt, especially a coup d'état.

1915:  From the German Putsch, derived from the Swiss or Alemannic German Putsch (knock, thrust, blow) and therefore of imitative origin.  It picked up the meaning “a political coup” in standard German through Swiss popular uprisings of the 1830s, especially the Zurich revolt of September 1839; first noted in English in 1915.

Operation Hummingbird (1934): Crushing the "Röhm Putsch"

Adolf Hitler looking at Ernst Röhm, 1934.

Nacht der langen Messer (Night of the Long Knives), also called Unternehmen Kolbri (Operation Hummingbird) was a purge executed in Nazi Germany between 30 June-2 July 1934, when the regime carried out a number of extrajudicial executions, ostensibly to crush what was referred to as "the Röhm Putsch".  Targets of the purge were those in the Nazi (National-Socialist) movement labelled as identifying with the need to continue the revolution so it would be as much socialist as it was nationalist.  Ironically, at the time, there was no putsch planned although Ernst Röhm (1887–1934; chief of the Sturmabteilung (the stormtroopers (the SA)), head of the four-million strong SA had certainly in the past hinted at one.  A brutal act of mass-murder (the first of many to follow), the Night of the Long Knives was executed with remarkable swiftness and the most generous interpretation is it can be thought a "preventive" rather than a "pre-emptive strike".  Elsewhere in Europe, the events were noted with some alarm although most statesman of the Western democracies came quickly to conclude (in the Westphalian way) it was an "internal German matter" and it was best politely not publicly again to speak of it.  Among Germans, the lesson about the nature of the Nazi state was well-learned.    

Hermann Göring, 1934.

Intended by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; head of government (1933-1945) & head of state (1934-1945) in Nazi Germany) to be a short, sharp hit with a handful of arrests, Hummingbird suffered the not infrequent fate of operations during the Third Reich: mission creep.  By the time Hummingbird ended in early July, Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945; Reichsführer SS (Schutzstaffel (Security Section (or Squad)) 1929-1945), his henchman Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942; high-ranking SS official, chief of Reich Security Main Office (Gestapo, Sipo, Kripo & SD 1939-1942) and Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi 1923-1945 and Hitler's designated successor 1941-1945), then a dynamic force, settled scores and, including collateral damage, the death toll was probably around 180.  Even Hitler thought that a bit much and worried for days there might be consequences but he addressed the parliament, claimed it was a matter of national security and received the thanks of the president for sorting things out.  All’s well that ends well.

The Nazi state was so extreme in its depravity and gangsterism it can be difficult fully to appreciate the enormity of what was done in 1934 and, dreadful as it was, the regime would get worse.  After Nacht der langen Messer, the Nazis cast themselves loose from the moorings of civilization, first drifting, later accelerating towards the holocaust.  The appalling nature of Nacht der langen Messer is best understood by imagining it happening in Australia under vaguely similar circumstances. 

Operation Galah (2018): Crushing the Dutton Putsch

Malcolm Turnbull & Scott Morrison.

At about 4:30am, Malcolm Turnbull and his entourage flew into Brisbane.  From the airport they drove to Federal Police headquarters, where an enraged Turnbull dismissed the police chief and told him he would be shot.  Later that day, he was executed while a large number of other police were arrested.  Turnbull meanwhile assembled a squad of federal police and departed for the northern suburbs hotel where Peter Dutton and his followers were staying.  With Turnbull's arrival around 6:30am, Dutton and his supporters, still in bed, were taken by surprise.  The squad stormed the hotel and Turnbull personally placed Dutton and other prominent Liberal-Party conservatives under arrest. According to Michaelia Cash, Turnbull turned Abbott over to "two detectives holding pistols with safety catches off".  Turnbull ordered Eric Abetz, George Christensen, Kevin Andrews and others in Dutton’s group immediately to be taken outside, put up against a wall and shot.

Christopher Pyne.

Although Turnbull presented no evidence of a plot by Dutton to overthrow his government, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the conservative faction.  Arriving back at Liberal Party headquarters in Canberra, Turnbull addressed the assembled crowd and, consumed with rage, denounced "the worst treachery in world history". He told the crowd that "…undisciplined and disobedient characters and malcontents" would be annihilated. The crowd, which included party members and some Dutton supporters fortunate enough to escape arrest, shouted its approval.  Christopher Pyne, jumping with excitement, even volunteered to “shoot these traitors".

Julie Bishop & Peter Dutton.

Julie Bishop, who had been with Turnbull in Brisbane, set the final phase of the plan in motion and upon returning to Canberra, telephoned Scott Morrison at 11:00am with the codeword "Galah" to let loose the execution squads on the rest of their unsuspecting victims.  Some 180 enemies of the moderate faction were killed, most by shooting although there were mistakes; the music critic of the Courier Mail was executed because of a filing error when mixed-up with a member of the hard-right faction of the Young Liberals with a similar name.  The Liberal Party sent a wreath to the funeral along with two complementary tickets to a party fundraiser which was a nice gesture.

Eric Abetz & Scott Morrison.

The regime did not limit itself to a purge of the Liberal-Party conservatives.  Having banished some of them from the ministry, Turnbull and Bishop used the occasion to add to the list some moderates he considered unreliable.  Also executed were Barnaby Joyce and two other members of the National Party, apparently just because Turnbull hated them.  Another against whom he had long held a grudge, a former Treasury official, met an especially gruesome fate, his body found in a wood outside Canberra, beaten to death with a vintage mechanical adding machine.

Tony Abbott & Kevin Andrews.

Dutton, along with Tony Abbott, briefly was held in a cell at Liberal Party headquarters while Turnbull considered their fate.  In the end, he decided Dutton and Abbott had to die and, at Turnbull’s behest, Tim Wilson and Trent Zimmermann visited Dutton and Abbott.  Once inside the cell, they handed each of them a pistol loaded with a single bullet and told them they had ten minutes to kill themselves or they would do it for them.  Abbott demurred, telling them, "If I am to be killed, let Malcolm do it himself."  Having heard nothing in the allotted time, Wilson and Zimmermann returned to the cell to find them still alive, Abbott standing in a gesture of defiance, wearing just his Speedos.  They were then both shot dead.

George Christensen.

As the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent members of the party, it could hardly be kept secret.  At first, its architects seemed split on how to handle the event and Morrison instructed police stations to burn "all documents concerning the action of the past two days". Meanwhile, Julie Bishop tried to prevent newspapers from publishing lists of the dead, but at the same time used a radio address to describe how Turnbull had narrowly prevented Dutton and Abbott from overthrowing the government and throwing the country into turmoil.  Then, Turnbull justified the purge in a nationally broadcast speech in the House of Representatives.

“If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this. In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the Australian people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the Australian people. I gave the order to shoot the ringleaders in this treason, and I further gave the order to cauterise down to the raw flesh the ulcers of this poisoning of the wells in our domestic life. Let the nation know that its existence—which depends on its internal order and security—cannot be threatened with impunity by anyone! And let it be known for all time to come that if anyone raises his hand to strike the state, then certain death is his lot”.

Peter Dutton & Malcolm Turnbull, 2016 General Election.

Concerned with presenting the massacre as legally sanctioned, Turnbull had the cabinet approve a measure that declared, "The measures taken to suppress treasonous assaults are legal as acts of self-defence by the State."  Attorney-General Christian Porter, a one-time conservative, demonstrated his loyalty to the regime by drafting the statute which added a veneer of lawfulness.  Signed into law as the Law "Regarding Measures of State Self-Defence", it retroactively legalised the murders committed during the purge.  Australia's legal establishment further capitulated to the regime when a leading legal scholar wrote an article defending Turnbull’s speech. It was named "The Prime-Minister Upholds the Law".  From Yarralumla, the governor-general sent Turnbull a personally-signed letter expressing his "profoundly felt gratitude" and he congratulated the prime-minister for "nipping treason in the bud".

Probity

Probity (pronounced proh-bi-tee or prob-i-tee)

Integrity and uprightness; honesty.

1505-1515: From the Middle English probite (tried virtue or integrity, strict honesty), from the Middle French probité, from probitatem (nominative probitās (uprightness, honesty), from probus (virtuous, good, excellent, honest).  The construct of the Latin probitās was prob(us) (upright; worthy, good) + itās (the -itas suffix was from the Proto-Italic -itāts & -otāts (-tās added to i-stems or o-stems, later used freely) and ultimately from the primitive Indo-European -tehats.  The noun plural is probities.  Synonyms include (variously according to context) godliness, goodness, honor, righteousness, saintliness, uprightness & virtue; the antonym which best catches the sense is probably wickedness.

Quia suam uxorem etiam suspicione vacare vellet

Pompeia was (probably the second) wife of Julius Caesar (100–44 BC; Roman general & dictator 49-44 BC) who Caesar married in 67 BC.  In 63 BC Caesar was elected to the position of Pontifex Maximus (head priest of the Roman state church), a perk of which was a grand house on the Via Sacra and it was there in 62 BC that Pompeia hosted the festival of the Bona Dea (the good goddess), an event no man was allowed to attend.  However a young man called Publius Clodius Pulcher, disguised as a woman, managed to enter the house, his purpose the seduction of Pompeia.

Discovered early in the event, he was arrested and Caesar immediately divorced Pompeia.  The young man was prosecuted for sacrilege but when called as a witness, Caesar disavowed any knowledge of the events and declined to offer any evidence against Clodius who was therefore acquitted.  Pompeia assured her husband her honor hadn’t been violated which her husband believed but when asked by the prosecutor why therefore he'd divorced her, Caesar's answer was that his wife couldn't be even under suspicion and there must be no doubt as to the probity of Caesar's wife.

From this passed into use the phrase attributed to Julius Caesar by the Greek (later Roman) historian Plutarch (circa 46–circa 124): quia suam uxorem etiam suspicione vacare vellet (because he should wish even his wife to be free from suspicion) which is translated usually as "because Caesar's wife must be above suspicion", and the expression of womanly virtue therefore being understood as "acting with the probity of Caesar's wife".

Many subsequent Caesars have benefited from the probity of their wives, their rectitude not always appreciated or reciprocated.

Rusticate

Rusticate (pronounced ruhs-ti-keyt)

(1) To go to the country; to stay or sojourn in the country; to banish or retire to the country

(2) To make rustic, as persons or manners; to make or become rustic in style, behaviour etc.

(3) In architecture, to finish an exterior wall with large blocks of masonry that are separated by deep joints and decorated with a bold, usually textured, design.

(4) Temporarily to send down a student from a university as punishment (historic UK use).

(5) By extension, to sack a politician from office because of misbehavior or some scandal.

1650–1660: From the Latin rūsticātus, past participle of rūsticārī (to live in the country), the construct being rūstic(us) (rustic + -ātus); ultimate root was rūs (the country) which, like rūsticus was derived from the Proto-Italic rowestikos. The Classical Latin suffix –ātus (feminine -āta, neuter -ātum) is from the Proto-Italic -ātos, from the primitive Indo-European -eh₂tos and is listed by scholars as a "pseudo-participle" possibly related to -tus, though similar formations in other Indo-European languages indicate it was distinct from it by Indo-European times.  The suffix –ate was used to form adjectives from nouns indicating the possession of a thing or a quality and was one of Latin’s perfect passive participle suffixes of first conjugation verbs (-ātus, -āta & -ātum) which, in Middle English was written -at.  Rusticate is a verb, rusticator & rustication are nouns and rusticated & rusticating are adjectives & verbs; the usual noun plural is rusticators.

Rusticated by nature (and sometimes by circumstances): Barnaby Joyce (b 1967; thrice (between local difficulties) deputy prime minister of Australia 2016-2022).

Carp

Carp (pronounced kahrp)

(1) To find fault or complain querulously or unreasonably; be niggling in criticizing; cavil.

(2) A peevish complaint; to find fault with; to censure; to complain about a fault.

(3) A large, freshwater teleost (of, or relating to the Teleostei (fish with bony skeletons)) food fish of the family Cyprinidae (Cyprinus carpio), characterized by a body covered with cycloid scales, a naked head, one long dorsal fin, and two barbels on each side of the mouth.  It was native to Asia but was widely introduced in tropical and temperate waters; an important food fish in many countries and an introduced invasive pest in others.  There is one .cyprinid genus which tolerates salt water although many at times inhabit brackish water.

(4) Any of various other fishes of the family Cyprinidae; a cyprinid.

(5) In botany, a combining form occurring in compounds that denote a part of a fruit or fruiting body (best known in the form endocarp (the woody inner layer of the pericarp of some fruits that contains the seed).

(6) To say; to tell (obsolete).

1200-1250:  From the Middle English carpen (talk; to speak, to tell (someone something)), from the Old Norse karpa (to brag, wrangle) & karp (bragging) of unknown origin but linked to the Vulgar Latin carpere because of the meaning shift to “find fault with”, under the influence of the Latin carpō.  By the late fourteenth century, the sense had been further refined to mean “complain excessively about minor faults, often petulantly or without reason.  The Latin carpere (literally “to pluck” was used to convey the idea of "to slander or revile”), from the primitive Indo-European root kerp- (to gather, pluck, harvest).  The original sense in English (talk; to speak, to tell (someone something)) was between the mid-fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries maintained in the noun carper (talker), an agent noun from the carp; the modern sense of “a fault-finder” began to prevail from the 1570s.  Thus carping, which in the late thirteenth century was recorded as meaning “talk, speech; talkativeness, foolish talk” and was a verbal noun from the verb also by the 1570s came to be used to impart the idea of “unreasonable criticism or censure”.  The botanical use was from the New Latin -carpium, from the Greek -karpion, a derivative of karpós (fruit).

Among critics, there are clappers and carpers.

The name of the fish was from the late fourteenth century Middle English carpe, via the Old French carpa (the source also of the Italian & Spanish carpa), from either the Middle Dutch or the Middle Low German karpe and cognate with the Old High German karpfo, the Middle Dutch carpe, the Dutch karper, the Old High German karpfo & the German Karpfen (carp).  Although documentary evidence is lacking, some etymologists suggest the origin may be East Germanic (perhaps the unrecorded Gothic karpa) because the fish was in the fourteenth century introduced into English waterways from the Danube.  The Lithuanian karpis and the Russian karp are Germanic loan words but the most attractive name for the fish is doubtlessly the Japanese koi, first noted in 1727.  The ubiquitous goldfish is a type of carp and was introduced to Europe from China where it was native, their natural dull olive skins rendered by selective breeding into silver, red & black as well as the familiar orange.  The phrase “living in a goldfish bowl” dates from 1935 and was used figuratively to suggest a “lack of privacy”, based on the circular bowls in which the domestic pet fish were often kept, affording all a 360^o view of their activities.  The use of the noun gallimaufry (a medley, hash, hodge-podge) to describe various recipes of carp stews is mysterious but presumably related to the many other ingredients included to make the dish more palatable, the freshwater carp not highly regarded compared to the alternatives.  Carp convey a specific sense of the way a criticism is delivered and is subtly different from words like deprecate, condemn, censure, grumble, quibble, complain, criticize or reproach is that it’s held to be something nit-picking or pedantic.  Carp & carper are nouns; carped is a verb and carping is a verb, adjective & noun; the noun plural is carps although, of the fish, carp tends to be used when speaking collectively except when it’s regarding two or more species in which case it’s carps.

In some Australian waterways, carp have become a notable environmental threat, crowding out native species and adversely affecting water-quality because of their mud-sucking ways, causing erosion and killing of trees close to the water’s edge.  Although some water birds benefit from the abundant food source, they’re a rare winner.  The invasive species was introduced to the countries over a hundred years ago but the populations spiked massively after the 1960s when one genetic strain escaped from a fish farm in Victoria and in some places carp now constitute some 90% of the aquatic biomass.  As filter feeders (mud-suckers), they forage in the riverbeds, damaging aquatic plants, a feeding style which induces turbidity in the water, something unsuitable for many native fish.  Carp reproduce quickly, lack natural predators and are highly adaptable, able to take over ecological niches adding further stress to local flora & fauna.

In October 2022, a six-year research project to investigate the potential to introduce a herpes virus to control the carp delivered a final report to the Commonwealth & state governments.  In the national parliament, then deputy prime-minister and minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce MP (b 1967; thrice deputy prime-minister of Australia, 2016-date (the gaps due to “local difficulties”)) warmed to the idea of unleashing a venereal disease on “disgusting, mud-sucking carp”.

Migraine

Migraine (pronounced mahy-greyn or mee-greyn)

(1) An extremely severe paroxysmal headache, usually confined to one side of the head and often associated with nausea; hemicrania.

(2) A neurological condition characterised by such headaches

1325–1375: From the Middle English, from the Old French migraigne, from (as an imperfect echoic) the Medieval Latin hēmicrānia (pain in one side of the head, headache) and the Greek hemikrania, the construct being hemi (half) + kranion (skull).  The earliest form in English was megrim or mygrame with the spelling revised in 1777 to adopt the French form.  It’s never been clear if any of the European forms are a calque of the Egyptian gs-tp (headache), a construct of gs (half) + tp (head); the link between the Egyptian magical papyri and the Greek hēmikranía (ἡμικρανία) is undocumented and could be coincidental.  The corrupt form megrim was in common use between the fifteenth & early twentieth centuries is now obsolete although it did for a while endure in its secondary senses of "depression; low spirits" (and curiously, "a whim or fancy").  The pronunciation mee-greyn is said to be most prevalent in Scotland.  Migraine is a noun and migrainoid & migrainous are adjectives; the noun plural is migraines.

Technically, a migraine is a severe, often recurring, headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, characterized by sharp pain and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, and visual disturbances.  Vasodilation in the brain causes inflammation which results in pain, but the exact cause of migraine remains unknown.  In casual use there’s a tendency, not restricted to hypochondriacs, to use word to describe even mild headaches.

Donald Trump, Crooked Hillary Clinton & Boris Johnson demonstrate the single-handed reaction to a migraine.

Despite advances, the exact causes of migraines are yet fully to be understood and although there's a consensus migraines are complex neurological conditions triggered by various factors, it may be they are inherent to the nature of being human and while treatments may improve, many neurologists have cautioned there may never be a “cure” although it’s noted a susceptibility to migraines seems to run in families, suggesting there may be a genetic predisposition.  At the physical level, abnormalities in the brain's nerve pathways and chemical signaling are believed to be involved, changes in the levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine suggested as causative agents.  The triggers appear to vary between individuals although the most commonly mentioned include foods such as aged cheeses, chocolate, caffeine, and artificial sweeteners, alcohol, stress, hormonal changes (seemingly only in women), changes in sleep patterns, sensory stimuli (bright lights, loud noises, strong odors), weather changes, and certain medications.  Critical too appear to be (1) abnormalities in the brainstem and its interactions with the trigeminal nerve (a major pain pathway) and (2) fluctuations in blood flow to the brain, including constriction and dilation of blood vessels.  Interestingly, as varied as the causes may be, so too is the effectiveness of the treatments and doctors frequently report a regimen some patients finds most efficacious might achieve nothing on others reporting the same symptoms, and possible triggers.

Lindsay Lohan demonstrates the two-handed reaction to a migraine although, given the migraine typically afflicts only one side of the head, this may be a more common response to the (usually) less severe but more widespread headache.

The Migraine Pose

A staple of portrait photography for decades, the migraine pose isn’t new but Instagram is a big-machine database and it’s now easy to identify trends and spikes in techniques.  The migraine look seems to have peaked in late 2018 and although still often posted, the historic moment of the trend seems to have passed.  The pose is achieved by using one hand to pulling the face up by the temples, a look reminiscent of someone suffering a migraine.  Classically done with one hand because the headache from which it borrows the name usually is localised to one side of the head, models adopt the look because it tightens the face, renders cheekbones more prominent and lifts the brows, a kind of instant facelift.  The hand may be placed on the temples, forehead or crown but should be done with a light touch, not a gripping of the head or hair.  Models also caution neophytes not to neglect the hands and nails because nothing spoils even a perfectly composed photograph like a poor manicure.

Gigi Hadad: The perfect migraine pose by a professional model.  With that bone structure and flawless skin, she doesn't need the artifice the technique can lend those falling short of her structural ideal but the pose adds variety to a photo shoot and photographers still like it.

Barnaby Joyce (b 1967; thrice (between local difficulties) deputy prime minister of Australia 2016-2022):  Although Mr Joyce seems frequently to adopt the migraine pose, the consensus is it's not an attempt to make himself more attractive in photographs and it's likely he actually suffers headaches.  These could be caused by many things.

Of course, Mr Joyce may also have been the cause of migraines in a few of his colleagues.  He's pictured here in 2018 with Malcolm Turnbull (b 1954; Australian prime-minister 2015-2018).