Post #4464016

when someone in the public eye is trying to defend themselves against allegations of wrongdoing (hello gianni infantino!) they say the accusations are ‘categorically untrue’. i looked up the word ‘category’ and was surprised to learn that its root is from the greek katēgoriā (= assertion, accusation). this is from katēgoros (= an accuser), made of kata (= down, against) and agorā (= assembly). the other surprise in english for me was the gap in meaning between category (= a class of things sharing characteristics) and categorical (= absolute, unconditional, without exception). they seem both to stem from the later greek meaning (assertion of something) but have travelled different paths. #wordplay #GoodMorning