AA:I'mAviArdittiwithRosanneSkirble, andthisweekonWORDMASTER: wecontinueourdiscussionwithdictionaryeditorBenZimmerabouttermsrelatedtothepresidentialcampaign.

RS:"Onewordthat'sbeingassociatedwithJohnMcCain-- orJohnMcCainwantstohaveassociatedwithhim-- istheterm'maverick.'"

BenZimmer

BENZIMMER:"ItwasoriginallythenameofacattlerancherinTexaswhosenamewasSamuelMaverick, inthemid-nineteenthcentury. Hewasalsoapolitician, butheownedalargeherdofcattleinTexas. Andhewasnotoriousbecauseheneverbrandedhiscattle, aswasusuallydonebythecattleranchers. Andhesaidthatthiswasasawayofbeinglesscrueltotheanimals. Buthisrivals, theothercattleranchersinTexas, thoughtthatthiswasjustaploysothathecouldclaimthatanycattlethatdidn'thaveabrandwerehis, andthathecouldjustclaimthemthatway.

"Inanycase, thistermmaverickthenwasappliedtothecattlethemselves. 'Mavericks'wereunbrandedcalves. Andthen, fromthere, itgotextendedtomeanjustsomeonewhokindofrunswild, somebodywho'sveryindependent-minded, hasafreespirit."

RS:"Speakingofcrueltytoanimals, canyouputlipstickonapig?"

BENZIMMER:"Iwouldn'twanttotry, but-- "

RS:"Explainthattome."

BENZIMMER:" -- we'vecertainlyheardalotaboutlipstickonapig. BarackObamatoldacrowd, 'Youcanputlipstickonapigbutit'sstillapig.'Andthen, veryswiftly, theMcCaincampaignsaidthatthiswassomehowdirectedatSarahPalin. Butwecanseethatthishasaveryinterestinghistory, too.

"It'sbeenusedbylotsofdifferentpeople. Infact, JohnMcCainhimselfuseditjustlastyeartodescribeHillaryClinton'shealthcareplan. Andthat'sactuallyanoldconceptoftakingapigandtryingtoconvertitintosomethingpretty. There'sevenabiblicalproverb, there'sanechofromtheBible: 'Asaringofgoldinaswine'ssnout, soisabeautifulwomanwholacksdiscretion.'

"ButthenitbecameacommonsourceofexpressionsintheEnglishlanguagetorefertoapigthat'ssomehowdressedup. Sothereareexpressionslike'Ahoginasilkwaistcoatisstillahog.'Andinthetwentiethcenturythenwegetvariationsonthatwhichinvolveothertypesofprettyingup, includinglipstick, orputtingperfumeonapig. There'slotsofdifferentwaysthatpeoplehavetalkedabouttryingtoconvertsomethingfromuglytopretty, orfromuselesstouseful."

AA:"Asow'searintoasilkpurse."

BENZIMMER:"Exactly. That'sanexpressionthatdatesbacktothemid-sixteenthcentury: 'Youcan'tmakeasilkpursefromasow'sear.'Sotheideaistheearofasow, orafemalehog, issomethingthatisnotveryprettyatallandnotveryuseful.

"Earmarkisanotherpig-relatedtermwhichoriginallyreferredtothemarksonapig'searandeventuallygotusedinpoliticstorefertothisspecialset-asidemoneythat'susedfordifferentprojects, andthatacongressmancantrytobringthesespecialappropriationsbacktotheirhomestateorhomedistrict."

RS:"Bringhomethebacon, asitwere."

BENZIMMER:"Bringhomethebacon. Andbringhomethepork, touseyetanotherpigexpression."

TERESAROOF:"Well, porkproductstodayareactuallyalotleanerthaninthepast."

AA:TeresaRoofmustwinceattheironyanytimesomeonerefersinpoliticstobudgetaryfataspork. SheispublicrelationsmanagerfortheNationalPorkBoard, anindustrygroupwherean"earmark" canstillrefertoanidentifyingtagonapig.

TERESAROOF:"Comparethepigsfromnineteenfifties. Today'smodelhasslimmeddownconsiderablywithseventy-threepercentlessfat. Andthat'smainlyduetothedemandthatconsumerswantaleanerproduct."

AA:"Isn'ttheargumentthatsomepeoplehavenowthatporkisalmosttoolean, thatit'slostsomeofitsflavorbecausethey'vecutsomeofthefatout?"

TERESAROOF:"There'svariousdifferentbreedsandvariousdifferentmodelsouttheretodaytosatisfyeveryconsumer'sneed. There'sanactivenichemarketoutthere[for] peoplewhoarelookingforaspecificbreedofpork, orporktomeetthosedemands, sothere'sbasicallyeverythingoutthereonthemarket, forawidevarietyofconsumers."

AA:ThatwasTeresaRoofattheNationalPorkBoard. AndbeforethatweheardfromBenZimmer, executiveproduceroftheVisualThesaurus, anonlinethesaurusanddictionary. PartoneofourdiscussionoftermsrelatedtothepresidentialcampaigncanbefoundatourWebsite, voanews.com/wordmaster. Youcanalsolearnmoreabouttwoothertermsinthenewsrightnow: "bailout" and"goldenparachute."

Andthat'sallforWORDMASTERthisweek. WithRosanneSkirble, I'mAviArditti.