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Apr 6, 2021
This week’s theme
Eponyms

This week’s words
Apgar
Pinkerton
Yarborough
Orwellism
Oakley

pinkerton
Pinkerton & Lincoln, 1860s (cropped)
Colorized the original with MyHeritage
Photo: Mathew Brady

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Pinkerton

PRONUNCIATION:
(PING-kuhr-tuhn)

MEANING:
noun: A detective.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884), a private detective, who started a detective agency in 1850. Earliest documented use: 1874. Pinkerton may also be the origin of the term fink.

USAGE:
“She had her chance due to the carelessness of a Pinkerton hired by Flo’s mother to investigate her death.”
Emily M. Danforth; Plain Bad Heroines: A Novel; William Morrow; 2020.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We take our colors, chameleon-like, from each other. -Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (6 Apr 1741-1794)

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