Fraught
Clarence found this in
the January 31 edition of the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
“Twice this month, the
White House has publicly grappled with the politically fraught language of
terrorism.”
Clarence asked about the
word fraught in that sentence. The adjective
comes from the past participle form of the verb, which owes its existence to a
German/Dutch/Swedish nexus of a word meaning to load a ship with cargo. As
such, it is closely connected to the word freight.
In effect, the idea
could have been expressed by the words “politically loaded language.” Synonyms
include filled, charged, laden—a form of the verb lade, which meant to load
cargo onto a ship. Another nautical image appearing in the original sentence
above is contained in the verb grappled.
Originally, to grapple was to seize or hold a ship with a grapple, which was an
implement furnished with large, strong hooks.
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