If you follow American news at all you’ll know that one of the words dominating public debate in the United States is the word ‘doge.’
In the case of the American term, it is an acronym—made up from the initial letters in the phrase: ‘Department of Government Efficiency.’
And the man who is running this ‘Doge’ on behalf of President Trump is Elon Musk.
He is being seen as an enemy by those who don’t want any cuts in government spending or government institutions.
But for a wordie the interesting thing is the coincidence of the name.
There was an earlier ‘doge’—in fact, a whole series of them—because for many years the ruler of the Italian city of Venice was called ‘the doge of Venice.’
If you’ve been there as a tourist, you’ll know that the ‘Doge’s Palace’ is still there.
And both words are not only spelled the same, but they are also pronounced the same.
Whether you are talking about the medieval rulers of Venice or Elon Musk cutting a swathe through Washington the word ‘doge’ is pronounced dohj.
The Italian word comes from the ancient Latin word dux meaning ‘leader.’
(Do you remember the days when the 'dux' of the school was the student with the best results? Same word -- meaning, that case, the academic leader.)
The title that Benito Mussolini chose for himself Il Duce comes from the same source and has the same meaning -- leader.
So, perhaps, as the ‘doge of Washington’ Elon Musk is the leader—the Il Duce—of cost-cutting in Washington?
The doges ruled the republic of Venice from AD 697 to AD 1797.
Although the place was not a democracy, they were still (in a sense) ‘elected’—but only from a small group of the leading families of Venice and only voted for by a small group of the aristocrats of Venice.
In English, the same Latin source word (dux) has given us the title ‘Duke.’
So, there’s a sense that the ‘doge’ of Venice was what we would have called the ‘duke’ of Venice.
And since Elon Musk is the world’s richest man (and clearly a very intelligent, smart bloke) perhaps he is the nearest that democratic America comes to having a ‘duke’?
After all, he was appointed by a popularly elected president—and he had campaigned alongside Donald Trump embodying Trump’s promise to cut government spending and government waste.
These days Prince Edward is the ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ (having his father’s old title); so perhaps Elon Musk is the ‘Duke of Washington’ with the president’s authority to trim the waste, end the corruption, and close institutions that no longer serve a useful role?
Perhaps the parallel between Musk and the old time ‘Doge of Venice’ is not a bad one?
My most recent chat with Peta Credlin is now the web -- you can see it here: Words Matter: Kel Richards on the origin of ‘Westminster’ | Sky News Australia
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The January-February issue of Australian Geographic is out now (with the octopus on the cover) -- inside are my two small columns on 'Placenames' (looking at 'Ariah Park') and 'Ozwords' (this time about 'bluey').
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
I have just taken part in Jenny Wheeler's podcast "The Joys of Binge Reading." You can listen to the conversation here:
https://thejoysofbingereading.com/kel-richards-country-house-mysteries/
I have signed the anti-Semitism pledge, and I encourage you to do the same. You can sign the letter here: www.saynotoantisemitism.org
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
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* My latest book is -- "Defending the Gospel" (second, fully revised, edition). You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
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