There are few Latin terms or Latin sounding acronyms that don’t sound nasty.
Caucus. Sounds phallic, right?
POTUS and FLOTUS are two ords that sound as though they’d surrounded by an anus or two scribbled on some wall found in Ancient Rome. You know, graffiti.
Or grafitum.
We all know about the word caucus. The recent brouhaha in Iowa taught us caucus is Latin for “apparently not still not Huckabee’s year”.
POTUS and FLOTUS are acronyms, short for President of the U.S. And First Lady of the U.S., respectively.
When I was a reporter, the Associated Press was gospel—they were then official arbiters of journalistic style. I don’t know if the AP allows SCOTUS and FLOTUS after first reference. I’m too lazy to look it us, but I know this: President Barak Obama must be called that…what I just typed on first reference. In subsequent lines he can be called Mr. Obama or even Obama if the story is long enough and mentions him enough times.
But SCOTUS??? Would it even work in print?? I think it would. Imagine listening to Megan Kelly utter SCOTUS five times in one report?
Oooof. I thank the greater Cosmos that Iowa is over. I’d keel if I had to hear ANY newsperson mention the word caucus again. I’m relieved that the next big political term shoved down our throats will be primary. I can’t think think of any body part or bodily function that even remotely sounds like it.
But the worst…THE WORST sounding acronym in the world is right here in my own back yard.
“SCOTEX”
Yep, the shortened term for the “Supreme Court of Texas” sounds like a maxi-pad.
