A.Word.A.Day--wonk

[Dave Monroe]

wonk (wongk) noun

   An expert who studies a subject or issue thoroughly
and excessively.

[Of unknown origin.]

This word is most often encountered in the term
"policy wonk". There are many speculations about the
origin of the word, for example an acronym for WithOut
Normal Knowledge, or the reverse spelling of the word
know, but these claims are not supported by evidence.

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus:
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=wonk

  "This sober, well-ordered city - where John Calvin
was laid to rest - is also where the WTO is
headquartered and where trade wonks get down to 
serious business."
   From Cancun to Geneva; The Economist (London, UK);
Jul 30, 2004.

  "Aside from being a genuine wit and an eloquent
policy wonk, (Robert) Reich speaks the language of
class."
   Eric Alterman; The Reich Stuff; Mother Jones (San
Francisco, California); Jul/Aug 1995.

If archaic words are the grizzled old veterans of a
language, slang terms are its feisty teenagers. These
are words that are not afraid to experiment, twist,
turn, blend, and innovate with language.

A few weeks ago we featured archaic expressions and
now it's time to give slang its due. Since slang is
often born on the gritty streets of language rather
than in the language lab, its origins are often hard
to pin down. We aren't sure where most of the words
for this week originated but that shouldn't stop us
from giving them a spin.

-Anu Garg
 anu at wordsmith.org

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/wonk.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/wonk.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/wonk.html

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