A.Word.A.Day

endemic

PRONUNCIATION:
(en-DEM-ik)
MEANING:
adjective:
1. Natural to a particular people or place; always present in a particular area.
2. Confined to a geographic region.


ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek endemos (native), from en- (in) + demos (people).


USAGE:
"Some of the worst actors on the international stage can also take advantage of the collective exhaustion and outrage that people feel with official corruption, as we've seen with Islamic extremists who promise purification, but deliver totalitarianism. Endemic corruption opens the door to this kind of movement, and in its wake comes a new set of distortions and betrayals of public trust."
Barack Obama; An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future; Speech at the University of Nairobi, Kenya; Aug 28, 2006.


A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, "the greatest", but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is. -Sydney J. Harris, journalist and author (1917-1986)