tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post5837044356889577902..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Colonial Boston Vocabulary: "caucus"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-68202855715649403342015-08-04T23:52:12.888-05:002015-08-04T23:52:12.888-05:00And I figured out who “Uncle Fairfield” was.And I <a href="http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-adams-and-uncle-fairfield.html" rel="nofollow">figured out who “Uncle Fairfield” was</a>.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-42002848180786716922008-01-07T16:19:00.000-05:002008-01-07T16:19:00.000-05:00I’ve now posted an article about where the word “c...I’ve now posted an <A HREF="http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2008/01/colonial-boston-vocabulary-caucus-part.html" REL="nofollow">article about where the word “caucus” might come from</A>.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-81723910127752681092008-01-04T11:39:00.000-05:002008-01-04T11:39:00.000-05:00Authors have proposed three theories about the ori...Authors have proposed three theories about the origin of the word “caucus.” I plan to discuss them all soon. The earliest theory is a variation on the one you’ve heard, and it seems like the least likely. <BR/><BR/>As you see in Adams’s description, most of the known caucus members weren’t “corkers” or “caulkers,” but office-holders. Only one—Ruddock—had any connection with shipbuilding at all, and he was a shipyard owner, not a hands-on worker. <BR/><BR/>Even the author who suggested this theory said it was a “mere guess.” But other authors seem to have accepted it as true.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-81204330670600021122008-01-04T11:21:00.000-05:002008-01-04T11:21:00.000-05:00I recall reading an etymology of the word 'caucus'...I recall reading an etymology of the word 'caucus' (in Langguth's 'Patriots'?) which proposed that rather than having a Greek ancestry, the word was a Bostonization of the word 'corkers', and was used because many of the members were shipbuilders, where cork was routinely used as a sealant. It's a colorful anecdote, and I wondered if it could be true. <BR/><BR/>-RonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com