TODAY’S WORD

bloody shirt

● PRONUNCIATION: (BLUHD-ee

shuhrt)

● MEANING: noun: A symbol used to incite people to partisan outrage or animosity.

● ETYMOLOGY: The term is typically used as “to wave the bloody shirt” and alludes to the literal or metaphorical symbol of a supposed injury that needs to be avenged. Earliest documented use: 1586.

● USAGE: “His impeachment would be a bloody shirt that Republicans would wave to justify their intransigence for decades to come.”

Geoffrey Kabaservice; Removing Trump Wouldn’t ‘Overturn’ 2016; The Washington Post; Feb 2, 2020.