This is the day to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to any American you happen to know or who you run into.
Because today is America’s 250th birthday.
July 4th has long been celebrated as America’s birthdate.
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, a document primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson.
This declaration announced the separation of the 13 American colonies from British rule, asserting their right to self-governance and outlining grievances against King George III.
Although the resolution for independence was voted on July 2, the final adoption of the declaration occurred two days later, which is why July 4 is still remembered as the symbolical birthday for the nation.
So, what about this strange word Semi-quincentennial?
By the way, I am writing it with a semicolon, by and large the Americans are not.
But I think it’s easier to read and understand with my semicolon.
This word breaks down into bits.
Clearly the ‘centennial’ bit means a hundred years.
The ‘quin’ bit comes from Latin and means ‘five.’
So, a ‘quincentennial’ means ‘500 hundred years.
And sticking the prefix ‘semi’ on front of it halves the 500 hundred and means (or is supposed to mean!) half of 500—namely 250.
The odd thing is that ‘semi-quincentennial’ is not found in the full Oxford English Dictionary—but the word ‘quincentennial’ is.
The Oxford says it was coined in 1884.
Judging from the citations underneath the etymology and definition it remains a fairly rare word.
Well, there's not much call for it I suppose?
How often do we want a special word to say that something is 500 years old?
And the American device of (effectively) putting a half sign in front of 500 strikes we as a bit odd.
But what else could they have done?
Well, ‘sesquicentennial’ means 150 years, so I suppose they could have invented ‘sesquicentennial-centennial’—150 years plus another hundred years.
That would make about as much sense as semiquincentennial.’
Anyway, happy birthday America!
The July-August issue of Australian Geographic is now at newsagents with the picture of a dingo pup on the cover and my two small columns inside -- 'Ozwords' and 'Placenames.'
My newest column on the Sky News website is about Karl Stefanovic and free speech -- here's the link: The freedom of speech questions that need answering as Karl Stefanovic is forced out by Nine over Tommy Robinson interview | Sky News Australia
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* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a 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
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BY THE WAY...
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
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
