Fittingly, Tuesday’s Word of the Day on Merriam-Webster’s website is “candidate.”
The noun, pronounced KAN-duh-dayt, means a couple of things, but its primary definition is “one that aspires to or is nominated or qualified for an office, membership, or award.”
According to Merriam-Webster, people running for office in ancient Rome wore white togas while meeting voters in the Forum and “candidatus” is Latin for “clothed in white.”
The top three words trending on Merriam-Webster.com are “malarky,” “fracking” and “coyote,” which are all related to the presidential campaign as well.
Malarky means “insincere or foolish talk” and Joe Biden uses the word often.
Fracking is defined as “the injection of fluid into shale beds at high pressure in order to free up petroleum resources.” Both candidates have said that’s a practice they plan to continue if elected.
Coyote started trending after President Trump used it during his last debate with Biden to describe a person who illegally smuggles immigrants into the U.S. It’s most often used to define “a wild animal that is related to dogs and wolves and that lives in North America.”
Merriam-Webster started making dictionaries in 1847 when Democrat James K. Polk was president. He defeated Whig party candidate Henry Clay in 1944 to lead the nation.
