roorback

****************************************************************
Do you enjoy challenging word games? Try WORD SWEEP!, the new board game 
featuring official Merriam-Webster definitions!
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780971348769&itm=2
 
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for June 24 is:

roorback   \ROOR-back\   noun 
     : a defamatory falsehood published for political effect 

Example sentence:
     "The attacks on my character are nothing but roorbacks drummed up by my 
opponent," insisted the candidate.

Did you know?
     If you think dirty politics are new, think again. In the midst of the 1844 
presidential campaign between James K. Polk and Henry Clay, a letter was 
published in a newspaper in Ithaca, New York, claiming that a reputable witness 
(one Baron von Roorback) had, while traveling in Tennessee, come across 43 
slaves owned by Polk and branded with his initials. The letter caused an uproar 
that threatened to derail Polk's campaign until it was discovered that the 
whole thing was a hoax supposedly perpetrated by the opposing party. Baron von 
Roorback didn't even exist. The incident proved a political boomerang; Polk won 
the election and the name "roorback" became a byword for political dirty tricks.





You Are Subscribed As: gclw-mw-wod7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to subscribe to the html
version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio
pronunciations, please visit:

http://mw.drhinternet.net/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2007 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102