November 20, 2013

Etymology of the Day: Strategery


My incidental use of the George Bushism “strategery” in a post this morning sparked a Twitter exchange which produced an interesting factlet: George Bush didn’t invent the word. Here it is in an 1845 short story by Mark Lemon, the founder of Punch, titled “Never Trust to Outward Appearances”:

The particular strategery spoken of here involves one Caleb Botts, who was negotiating to marry away his daughter Fanny for his own benefit, but eventually gets outsmarted. I just thought you’d all like to know.

UPDATE: Sorry. I’m reminded in comments that “strategery” was invented by Will Farrell in an SNL spoof of George Bush. As happens so often, fiction replaces reality in our memories.

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