WEBVTT

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Mysteries of vernacular

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Inaugurate:

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to begin or introduce a system, policy, or period

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or to admit someone formally into public office.

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The word inaugurate probably begins

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with the Latin word avis,

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meaning bird.

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In ancient Rome, avis was combined

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with the Latin verb garrire, to talk.

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The two words together made augur,

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literally one who talks to birds.

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Figuratively, however, augur was the name given

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to a specific religious official,

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a type of soothsayer or prophet,

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who foretold events by studying the behavior of birds.

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No major decision was made

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without the augur's consultation.

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He would analyze flight patterns and direction,

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bird calls,

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and general bird activities,

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and then use these signs to interpret the will of the gods.

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From augur comes the verb inaugurare,

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to see omens from the flight of birds,

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and, then later, to consecrate or act

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when such omens are favorable.

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Roman officials could only be installed in office

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when the avian omens were auspicious.

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Centuries later,

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the word was eventually transmuted into English

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as inaugurate.

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Along the way, it lost its veneer of superstition

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and was admitted formally

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into the jargon of politics.