Words and Phrases in American Politics

IKE OTHERS IN THIS SERIES, this article is concerned with the facts about the origin and acceptance of a political term; however, this factual treatment need not prevent one from viewing the history of the political term boom in a theoretical light as well. It seems to be an interesting illustration of a problem discussed by Robert Menner in his article 'Multiple Meaning and Change of Meaning in English.' Menner shows that a variation of senses may lead to the obsolescence and discard of the older meaning. In boom we have a different process, in which a variety of senses may all contribute to a new metaphor. It is well known that in the spring of 1879 boom appeared in the political vocabulary almost spontaneously and with startling frequency

Boom · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Political theory and Gramsci · Geology · History · Law · Philosophy