Trend Watch

Pariah

Many obituaries for Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi ...

When:

Lookups spiked on October 21, 2011.

Why:

Many obituaries for Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi used pariah to describe both the dictator himself and the terror-sponsoring state of Libya under his rule.

Pariah means "one that is despised or rejected" or "outcast"

It comes from the word for "drummer" in a language of southern India, and referred to a group of people who worked as servants and ceremonial drummers and were viewed as social outcasts.

Photo credit: Stefan Kloo / flickr


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