Words and Phrases in American Politics

SOONER OR LATER, every etymologist will be confronted with what might be called etymological folklore: stories told for the purpose of explaining the origin of certain words or phrases. From the point of view of the folklorist these stories deserve more attention than they have received up to now, since they represent a distinct group of attempts to understand the bewildering facts of man's natural and cultural surroundings by inquiring into their origin. They are not essentially different in type from tales about the crossbill, that twisted its beak out of shape by trying to pull out the nails with which Christ was crucified; or about the dogwood whose flowers show the Christian symbols, because the cross was made of its wood. To the linguist, anecdotes of this type, stories dealing with word origins, are not a source of undiluted pleasure. Many of them can be dismissed as sheer inventions made up by laymen to satisfy laymen's curiosity about striking facts of language but lacking entirely a scientific or historical value. A good example of this type is the widespread story about going up Salt River, which has been dealt with in the second paper of this series.' But in other cases, stories that in their outward appearance have the same ex post facto look must be taken more seriously. Compare, for instance, the well-known explanation of the term locofoco. At a Tammany meeting, we are told, the managers, finding themselves confronted with unexpected and powerful opposition, tried to put a sudden end to the meeting by extinguishing the gaslights. Their opponents, however, proved to be equal to this trick. They lit 'locofocos' (newly invented self-igniting matches) and by their light continued the session. Thereafter, the faction that they represented was known by the name of Locofocos, which later became a nickname for Democrats in general. At first glance, this story sounds as fantastic as the one about Henry Clay, who, traveling to a political meeting at Louisville, was unwittingly rowed up Salt River instead of the Ohio. But there is one big difference: the Salt River story is demonstrably a secondary invention, while the Locofoco story is as well authenticated as anything in American history. The meeting in

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