Picnic

[Mark A Mandel]

On Sun, 21 Jul 2002, Rick H Kennerly wrote:

        [Mark Mandel]
#|o| That's a relief. Of course, that won't sway the
#|o|         [beware; I feel a cranky rant coming on]
#|o|  ignorant masses who prefer reinforcing their prejudices to, God forbid,
#|o| learning something or dealing in facts, or their eager manipulators.
#|o|         [That's off my chest. End rant.]
#
#Well, I wouldn't go that far.  I think the jury is still out on the
#question, not of the word's origin but on the word's usage.

Oh, I'm still upset about the political popularity of false etymology,
but I'm relieved that, as far as the charge and the present evidence are
concerned, the _Smithsonian_ magazine is not contributing to it.

-- Mark A. Mandel