Words of the Week - June 3

Does this bee look fishy to you?

‘Bee’ & ‘Fish’

Bee and fish attracted more attention than they usually do last week, after a California court ruled that the former could be classified as the latter, in order to offer protection to bees under the state’s endangered species act.

A trio of judges in California said on Tuesday that bees can be legally classed as a type of fish as part of a ruling that brings added conservation protections for the endangered species.
— Mia Jankowicz, Insider, 1 Jun. 2022

Here are detailed and scientific definitions of bee and fish:

Bee - “any of numerous hymenopterous insects (superfamily Apoidea) that differ from the related wasps especially in the heavier hairier body and in having sucking as well as chewing mouthparts, that feed on pollen and nectar, and that store both and often also honey.”

Fish - “any of numerous cold-blooded strictly aquatic craniate vertebrates that include the bony fishes and usually the cartilaginous and jawless fishes and that have typically an elongated somewhat spindle-shaped body terminating in a broad caudal fin, limbs in the form of fins when present at all, and a 2-chambered heart by which blood is sent through thoracic gills to be oxygenated.”

Here are simpler definitions for each creature:
Bee - “a black and yellow flying insect that can sting and that is often kept in hives for the honey that it produces.”
Fish - “a cold-blooded animal that lives in water, breathes with gills, and usually has fins and scales.”

‘Charadriiform’

A bee of an entirely different type caused many words, including charadriiform, to spike in lookups, as the Scripps National Spelling Bee came to an end last night.

#Speller231 Harini Logan from Texas has spelled the word charadriiform—of or relating to an order of birds including the shorebirds, auks, gulls—correctly! https://t.co/crbdogKasf #spellingbee

— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 3, 2022

We define charadriiform as "of or relating to Charadriiformes or to Charadrii," and the Charadriiformes are defined as "an order of birds including the shorebirds, auks, gulls, and related forms." If you need an adjective to refer to these you may choose either charadrine or charadrioid.

‘Punitive damages’

The civil trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, in which both actors were found to have been defamed, caused a number of words to spike in lookups, including punitive damages.

A jury has sided with Johnny Depp in the high-profile defamation trial between him and his ex-wife, Amber Heard. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
— Carson Blackwelder, ABC News, 1 Jun. 2022

We define punitive damages as “damages awarded in cases of serious or malicious wrongdoing to punish or deter the wrongdoer or deter others from behaving similarly.” The term (which is also called exemplary damages) has been used in a legal sense since the middle of the 19th century. Punitive, on its own, is an adjective meaning “inflicting, involving, or aiming at punishment.”

‘Ghost gun’

Ghost gun has also been in the news a considerable amount this past week, as a number of states or cities have moved to restrict this kind of weapon.

The city of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against one of the largest manufacturers of “ghost gun” kits in the United States on Wednesday, the same day Maryland’s ban on the untraceable weapons went into effect, news outlets reported.
— AP, 1 Jun. 2022

A ghost gun is “a gun that lacks a serial number by which it can be identified and that is typically assembled by the user (as from purchased or homemade components).” This use of ghost echoes its role in a number of other compounds, such as ghost kitchen (“a commercial cooking facility used for the preparation of food consumed off the premises”) or ghostwriter (“one that writes for and in the name of another”), in that it refers to something or someone that is not typically seen, experienced, or traced.

‘Jubilee’

The Queen of England has occupied her position for 70 years, and as a result some people are celebrating this, causing lookups for jubilee to spike.

In Scotland, not everyone is joining in the fanfare around Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her 70th year on the throne.
— Claire Parker, The Washington Post, 2 Jun. 2022

Jubilee often refers to a 50th anniversary, but may also be defined as “a special anniversary.” When paired with platinum it carries the meaning of “a 70th anniversary.” Jubilate means “to utter sounds or make demonstrations of joy and exultation,” and “one celebrating a jubilee” is a jubilarian.

Words Worth Knowing: ‘Conjubilant’

If you would like a celebratory word for the weekend, but do not feel like taking part in a jubilee we can offer you conjubilant, defined as "shouting together with joy." We sincerely hope that anyone who so wishes can find someone this weekend with whom they can be conjubilant.