Word of the day: cognate

The word of the day is cognate:

1. related by birth; of the same parentage, descent, etc.
2. Linguistics. descended from the same language or form.
3. allied or similar in nature or quality.

c.1645, from L. cognatus "of common descent," from com- "together" + gnatus, pp. of gnasci, older form of nasci "to be born" (see genus). Words that are cognates are cousins, not siblings.

(http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cognate)

"It was plain to see that these three religions all share historical antecedents with Nigerian Yoruba and Beninese Fon religions. They are clearly cognate religions."

- Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Black in Latin America

Letter to the Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun published a letter I wrote to them: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-rr-oprah-letter-20180110-story.html

Text reproduced here:

Dear Baltimore Sun,

Do you ever ask yourself what might have happened if, in the very early days of the 2016 presidential election, you hadn't breathlessly reported every movement and tweet of a celebrity whose only qualifications for running for national office were wealth and fame? Have you soberly reflected on dictionary.com’s word of the year for 2017, "complicit," and asked yourself to what extent you too are complicit in the current state of the world?

If you have, then, why, after everything we have all learned, did you choose to publish, "Oprah 2020: She can run, but will she?" (Jan. 9)? Before publishing this article, did you ask yourself to what extent does it report what actually happened (Oprah Winfrey gave a speech as she accepted an award at the Golden Globes), and to what extent does it fan the flames of wild speculation that a celebrity whose only qualifications are wealth and fame might run for national office?

Did you hope that reporting on Ms. Winfrey's presidential run would make the idea sound as plausible as "Icebreakers called out as cold weather persists" (also on page 6), and that two wrongs would somehow make a right?