[Ads-l] idiocracy
Laurence Horn
laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon Aug 31 15:07:14 UTC 2020
A drawback: the etymology isn’t clearly directly from “idiot”. “Idio-“ as in “idiopathy”, “idiolect”, “idiosyncratic”, etc. is a combining form for ‘one’s own’ or ‘individual’, and of course *is* the root of “idiot”, but not transparently so. So my first guess for “idiocracy” is not < “idiot” but maybe rule by those wrapped up in themselves, whether out of narcissism (I know, not entirely irrelevant), autism, or some other reason.
LH
> On Aug 31, 2020, at 8:50 AM, Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM> wrote:
>
> WOTY candidate?
>
> (because of new relevancy?)
>
> ---Amy West
>
> On 7/2/20 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
>> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2020 11:20:55 -0400
>> From: Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: idiocracy
>>
>> Mike Judge's crude but prophetic film satire appeared in 2006, but this may
>> be the first time I've seen it used as a common noun. (Surely not!):
>>
>>
>> https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/max-boot-blame-coronavirus-column-103956270.html
>>
>>
>> " 'We are living — and now dying — in an idiocracy of our own creation,'
>> conservative columnist Max Boot concluded his latest column for The
>> Washington Post.
>>
>> JL
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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