Yellow Journalism

Yellow Journalism - Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers.

Sounds familiar??

Blame it on my jaunt to Key West that's only 90 miles away from Cuba, but suddenly I am fascinated to dig more on Spanish-American War of 1898. And luckily for moi, etymology and history lessons go hand-in-hand :)

In 1890's Jospeh Pulitzer (of Pulitzer Prize fame) owned New York World and his major rival was New York Journal's owner William Randolph Hearst. The World had a popular comic strip running called "Hogan's Alley" which featured a yellow-dressed character named the "the yellow kid." William Randolph Hearst copied Pulitzer's sensationalist style and even hired "Hogan's Alley" artist R.F. Outcault away from the World. In response, Pulitzer commissioned another cartoonist to create a second yellow kid. Soon, the sensationalist press of the 1890s became a competition between the "yellow kids," and the journalistic style was coined "yellow journalism."

The question arises, what's it's connection with Cuba and Spanish-American War of 1898?

The story goes that, William Randolph Hearst understood that a war with Cuba would not only sell his papers, but also move him into a position of national prominence. Cuba was a colony of Spain and was fighting a guerrilla war with Spain to achieve independence. From Cuba, Hearst's star reporters wrote stories designed to tug at the heartstrings of Americans. The message was simple: Cuba was helpless and the U.S. must intervene. Sounds familiar again????

Trivia: The trivia here is what they call yellow journalism's "finest" moment.At 9:40pm on February 15, 1898, the American battleship Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 268 men. Hearst, especially, seized on this tragedy to accuse Spain of sinking the ship, without any proof whatsoever.(Recent research suggests it may have been an accident.) War ensued, and, some say, this was the first press-driven war.

Sources : www.answers.com, http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html

Pic : http://www.answers.com/

Red-Letter Day

Red-Letter Day - a memorably happy or noteworthy day

It's a red letter day for Semantica. Memorable enough for our Chief to greet the readers with the monthly update :D

The expression, by the way, comes from Medieval church calendars in 1325 when saint's days, feasts, and other holy days, which came to be printed on church calendars in red. The term came into wider usage with the appearance in 1549 of the first Book of Common Prayer in which calendar showed special holy days in red ink.

Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/
Pic : Google Images

Red light district

Red light district: A neighbourhood containing many brothels.

Radha's excellant post on 'Kids with cameras' brought to light the phrase red-light district. I spent some hours in this district last night. Time spent into the term's origin, that is.

Version 1: Brothels once advertised their presence by burning electric lights covered with red shades or glass in their windows. This led to the Americanism 'red-light district' for an area know for its houses of prostitution, the term first recorded in the late 19th century

Version 2: The term "red light district" is said to have originated with early railroaders. The men carried lit red lanterns when they left the train so in case of an emergency the crew caller would be able to find them. These lanterns were left outside bordellos when crew members stopped to pay the ladies a visit and sometimes were brought inside to be placed in a window.

A railwayman's lit red lantern left sitting in front of an establishment could just as easily have come to signify a saloon or a barber shop as it did a brothel. On the other hand, the lit red lantern quietly residing outside a nondescript building of unclear purpose could well have come to be seen as a discreet advertisement of what was for sale within.

Version 1 gets a confirmatory endorsement in Holland, where window prostitution is legal. The question "How many windows are there in Amsterdam?" prompted a ground survey in July 2006 which put the count at 506. The picture above is worth a thousand words really.

Sources: www.phrases.org.uk; www.amsterdamhotspots.nl; www.pbase.com

Between the devil and the deep blue sea

An addendum to 'true blue' & 'blue stocking' .. 'Devil and the deep blue sea' Let the rhythm & blues chain continue!

Between the devil and the deep blue sea: In difficulty, between two dangerous alternatives

The phrase was originally 'Between the Devil and the deep sea'. The sea turned blue much later and the phrase became well-known via the title of a popular song. 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' was written by Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen, and recorded by Cab Calloway in 1931, although that version of the phrase may have been circulating earlier

The original phrase is probably of nautical origin. More research may throw some light.

Source: www.phrases.org.uk

Blue Stocking

Blue Stocking - A woman with strong scholarly or literary interests.

Semantica gets its first contribution from a member of the fairer sex(!!!!) . And I decided to commence the journey with an expression that's tickled and tingled moi over years. Blue Stocking, when researched led me to times as long back as 1400, when ladies and gentlemen in Venice formed a society called della calza (of the stocking) , whose members were distinguished by the color of their stockings. By 1590, the fashion spread to Paris, where it became the rage (that should not surprise anyone). It took almost 2 centuries to reach England where in early 1750's, Mrs Elizabeth Montague, an English writer and society leader, along with other women started a women's literary discussion group, a revolutionary step away from traditional mindless women's activities. They invited various people to attend, including a botanist, translator and publisher called Benjamin Stillingfleet. He wasn't rich enough to have the proper formal dress which included black silk stockings. So he attended in his normal clothes, wearing blue stockings.This started a trend. The husband of one of the group members derisively referred to the meetings as the "Blue-Stocking Society".

There's another lesser-known and most likely untrue tale about the coinage. It seems that, late in the eighteenth century, two romantic and eccentric young ladies moved from Ireland to Wales (a town called Llangollen). Determined to lead an intellectual life and vowing never to marry, they seem to have spent much of their time knitting blue stockings. The house, till date is open to tourists every day of the year, though it's widely accepted that they could not have coined the term.

Source: Dictionary of Word and Pharse Origins, Vol II
http://en.wikipedia.org/

True Blue

True Blue - Loyal and unwavering in one's opinions or support for a cause.

'True blue' is supposed to derive from the blue cloth that was made at Coventry, England in the late middle ages. The town's dyers had a reputation for producing material that didn't fade with washing, i.e. it remained 'fast' or 'true'. The phrase 'as true as Coventry blue' originated then and is still used (in Coventry at least).

There are other theories as to the origin of 'true blue'. For example, the representation in paintings of the Virgin Mary in blue clothing, the purity of lineage of the Spanish nobility, or the blue aprons worn by butchers. These derivations are unlikely as they aren't supported by documentary evidence that link them to 'true blue'.

Source: www.phrasefinder.co.uk