The Great Depression, Part One-A
This is a minimally revised article first published on August 24, 2007. It has been my intention for quite some time to republish articles that originally did not have a "Word History," and to add such to each. This series on the "Great Depression" was my first "hit" as a blogger, as it drew the largest number of readers to this site up to that time. I will be posting the other parts of the series, in sequence, over the next week or so, but it is possible I will intersperse non-related articles too. I generally try to keep articles relatively short, something I did not always do back at the time this series was published, so I will split previous longer articles into smaller parts to keep them more manageable for readers; thus, the original "Part One" will be divided into "One-A" and "One-B." In the case of the Great Depression, no one series of articles can do justice to such a subject; in fact, volumes have been written on the subject and they have not been adequate in explaining this complex subject and historical era. Anyway.....
Hopefully we won’t experience an event like the Great Depression ever again, but the subject is always appropriate, if for no other reason than to serve as a reminder that we need to be vigilant about economic matters and the excesses that can occur within our system. There are literally tons of books on the subject, as the Great Depression, traumatic event that it was, has been studied by many in the decades since it occurred. Economics is not an easily understood subject, and this article is NOT the “definitive” history or analysis of the Great Depression. For a good overview of the Great Depression, I highly recommend Robert S. McElvaine’s “The Great Depression, America, 1929-1941.” His book doesn’t use a lot of the economic jargon and all of the technical talk that few understand. It is more of a history, than an economics book, but with easily understood economic information. I also highly recommend the chapters on Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt in “The American Political Tradition,” by Richard Hofstadter.
Many years ago I did a term paper on the Great Depression for a class in economics in college (ah, that was well after the Great Depression, so no wisecracks). That doesn’t make me an expert, but it was and is a topic that has always held an interest for me; then too, when I was younger, most adults of the time had lived through that era, and the scars were still evident. In those times, you seldom heard the term “The Great Depression” used by average folks; it was simply “The Depression,” and everyone understood exactly what that meant. When the stock market was mentioned, some folks still cringed, even though they never owned a share of stock in their lives, nor did they even really understand about stocks in general, but the memory of “The Crash” was still vivid to them. When I was in high school our class pitched in and bought ONE share of stock which we followed during the school year. I don't recall the company, but I then bought four shares of a company myself (actually my dad had to sign and act on my behalf, as I was not a legal adult) out of money I saved from my after school and weekend job. My mother knew absolutely nothing about stocks, but she was totally terrified, believing that those four shares and the one owned by our high school class could bring destitution to all of us. That was the terrifying impact the stock market crash and "the Depression" had on the psyche of many people.
WORD HISTORY:
In-This common word is often a preposition, but it can also be an adverb, adjective and even rarely a noun. It goes back to Indo European "en," which indeed meant "in." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "in," which in turn gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "in," although its meaning was much broader in those times, with the additional meanings of "on, at, amidst," but the meaning began to narrow after about 1000. Interestingly the spelling has remained intact for many, many centuries in English, as is has too in its closest other Germanic relatives: German, Low German, Frisian, and Dutch all have "in," and the somewhat more distant North Germanic relatives (Danish, Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian) all have "i," having lost the "n" sound.
Hopefully we won’t experience an event like the Great Depression ever again, but the subject is always appropriate, if for no other reason than to serve as a reminder that we need to be vigilant about economic matters and the excesses that can occur within our system. There are literally tons of books on the subject, as the Great Depression, traumatic event that it was, has been studied by many in the decades since it occurred. Economics is not an easily understood subject, and this article is NOT the “definitive” history or analysis of the Great Depression. For a good overview of the Great Depression, I highly recommend Robert S. McElvaine’s “The Great Depression, America, 1929-1941.” His book doesn’t use a lot of the economic jargon and all of the technical talk that few understand. It is more of a history, than an economics book, but with easily understood economic information. I also highly recommend the chapters on Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt in “The American Political Tradition,” by Richard Hofstadter.
Many years ago I did a term paper on the Great Depression for a class in economics in college (ah, that was well after the Great Depression, so no wisecracks). That doesn’t make me an expert, but it was and is a topic that has always held an interest for me; then too, when I was younger, most adults of the time had lived through that era, and the scars were still evident. In those times, you seldom heard the term “The Great Depression” used by average folks; it was simply “The Depression,” and everyone understood exactly what that meant. When the stock market was mentioned, some folks still cringed, even though they never owned a share of stock in their lives, nor did they even really understand about stocks in general, but the memory of “The Crash” was still vivid to them. When I was in high school our class pitched in and bought ONE share of stock which we followed during the school year. I don't recall the company, but I then bought four shares of a company myself (actually my dad had to sign and act on my behalf, as I was not a legal adult) out of money I saved from my after school and weekend job. My mother knew absolutely nothing about stocks, but she was totally terrified, believing that those four shares and the one owned by our high school class could bring destitution to all of us. That was the terrifying impact the stock market crash and "the Depression" had on the psyche of many people.
WORD HISTORY:
In-This common word is often a preposition, but it can also be an adverb, adjective and even rarely a noun. It goes back to Indo European "en," which indeed meant "in." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "in," which in turn gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "in," although its meaning was much broader in those times, with the additional meanings of "on, at, amidst," but the meaning began to narrow after about 1000. Interestingly the spelling has remained intact for many, many centuries in English, as is has too in its closest other Germanic relatives: German, Low German, Frisian, and Dutch all have "in," and the somewhat more distant North Germanic relatives (Danish, Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian) all have "i," having lost the "n" sound.
Labels: English, etymology, Germanic languages, Robert S. McElvaine, stock market, stocks, The Crash, the Great Depression
posted by Randy at 4:08 PM
4 Comments:
In the 1970s my parents always were worried about the stock market, so I know what you mean. Your mother was not alone. Glad 'in' has stayed the same!
I see you like Stilton. I do too, but EXPENSIVE!
Seth, Stilton is expensive, but it is soooooo good! I actually just bought a small wedge and some pumpernickel. That and a good dark ale! HEAVEN!
Not much for smelly cheese. I did read McIlvane's book on your suggestion previously. The world is shaky.
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