51吃瓜 of the Day
meritocracy
noun
a system in which a person's progress is based on ability and talent rather than class privilege and wealth.
More about meritocracy
Meritocracy, 鈥渁 system in which a person’s progress is based on ability and talent rather than class privilege and wealth,鈥� is a relatively recent word, dating from the mid-1950s; it鈥檚 a transparent combination of the noun merit and the common suffix –cracy 鈥渞ule, government.鈥� The term was coined by the British sociologist Michael Young in his satirical work The Rise of the Meritocracy (1958), which took aim at the British educational system. Much to Young’s dismay, meritocracy was adopted into widespread use without a hint of irony. In 2001, Young wrote in The Guardian: “The book was a satire meant to be a warning (which needless to say has not been heeded) against what might happen to Britain between 1958 and the imagined final revolt against the meritocracy in 2033.”聽
how is meritocracy used?
If the educational system is reproducing existing class and status hierarchies鈥攊f most of the benefits are going to students who are privileged already鈥攖hen either meritocracy isn鈥檛 working properly or it wasn鈥檛 the right approach in the first place.
Most Silicon Valley leaders still see their industry as a true meritocracy, where employees are generously compensated, can easily switch jobs and don鈥檛 need a union to advocate for them. But a growing number of activists both inside and outside the companies don鈥檛 agree.
meritocracy
badinage
noun
light, playful banter or raillery.
More about badinage
Badinage 鈥減layful banter鈥� is a French compound noun of badiner 鈥渢o joke, trifle鈥� and the noun suffix -age, naturalized in English. Badiner is a derivative of the noun badin 鈥渏oker, banterer,鈥� from the Proven莽al verb badar 鈥渢o gape,鈥� which in turn comes from unrecorded Vulgar Latin 产补迟腻谤别 鈥渢o yawn, gape.鈥� Badinage entered English in the second half of the 17th century.
how is badinage used?
“The Importance of Being Earnest” … has delighted audiences for more than a century with its badinage, irreverence and frothy romance. The real stars of the play have always been the words, which tumble out in a scathing, literate, giddy gush.
So, with laughter and shouts and endless badinage and merriment, the guests take their places.
badinage
More about plashy
Plashy 鈥渕arshy, wet鈥� is a derivative of Middle English plash(e), plaice, place 鈥減ool of standing water, marshy area,鈥� from Old English 辫濒忙蝉肠 鈥減ool of water, puddle.鈥� The adjective suffix -y comes from Middle English -i, -ie, -y, from Old English -ig (compare the German suffix -ig), which is related to the Greek adjective suffix -ikos and Latin -icus. Plashy entered English in the mid-16th century.
how is plashy used?
The hare is running races in her mirth; / And with her feet she from the plashy earth / Raises a mist, which, glittering in the sun, / Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run.
Suddenly I found myself face-to-face with a proud fastidious woman in confusion, hesitating, seeming to scruple at the prospect of having to step out of the Gallery and into the plashy road.
plashy