FOXTOPUS, A Good Name For Fox News
WORD HISTORY:
Sleazy (Sleaze)-The word "sleazy" seems to have come from a "cute" English pronunciation in the 1600's for German "Schlesien" (German pronunciation as if, "schlay-zee-en," thus English "sleazy"). Schlesien (English form: "Silesia") was then a German region ^ known for the production of cloth, which was often a German export. Indeed, the English form, Silesia," was used as a word for the cloth. The cloth was thin, thus "flimsy," and this meaning began to be attached to the word, which eventually broadened beyond the cloth itself. From this "flimsy" meaning, came the further meaning, "low quality," which then broadened to, "someone of low character (20th Century);" thus, "The sleazy councilman in the neighborhood took bribes from drug dealers." Also the meaning, "a place of low or dirty repute;" thus, "We're entering a sleazy part of town, where all sorts of illegal activities go on." The noun "sleaze" was derived from the adjective (mid 20th Century?).
^ Today, due to border adjustments after World War Two, parts of the "Silesia" region are in Poland, the Czech Republic (Czechia) and Germany.
Labels: Bill O'Reilly, Donald Trump, English, etymology, Fox News, Germanic languages, Roger Ailes, scandals
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