Etymology and Scandal

In the course of this month two journalists have approached me with questions related to political scandals. My answers, neither of which has been printed in full, may perhaps interest the readers of our blog. Question 1: “How typical are phrases like Ponzi scheme?” As far as I can judge, three ways exist of attaching a proper name to a noun that follows it. A suffix can be added to a proper name: cf. Byronic or Shakespearean. Such adjectives usually mean “in the style of.” Thus, we can spea

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