quote:

Ryan was moving his mouth, but the voice was the neocon puppet master Dan Senor. The hawkish Romney adviser has been secunded to manage the running mate and graft a Manichaean worldview onto the foreign affairs neophyte. Maureen Dowd column "Neocons Slither Back" in today's New York Times Sunday Review

I've never seen this word before. Various online dictionaries define "secund" as a biologcal term meaning "Arranged on or turned to one side of an axis," "Arranged on one side only (such as the flowers of lily of the valley)." The Free Merriam-Webster gives more help: "having some part or element arranged on one side only : unilateral <secund racemes>"-- they ask for input on where the reader might have encountered the word, to which there's one reply citing the same Maureen Dowd article.

What do you think? Accurate and interesting application, or is Dowd just being precious? I am not sure my understanding of Senor's place in the campaign is enlightened by use of this word.

It 's a new one to me too, but seems appropriate. I question the use of "Manichaean" in this sentence, however, since the political right seems to be highly invested in the material world despite protestations to the contrary. "Calvinist" would seem more accurate.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,

I think it's a typo/misspelling. The word should be seconded.

I agree with Arnie. Consideing that Rick Santorum said Republicans would never be able to get "smart people " to vote for them, this can only be an example of why they wouldn't.

Interesting post, Bethree. Does "seconded" work, though? Clearly the word wasn't "secund," at least with the usual definition.

quote:

Does "seconded" work, though?

Yes. He was working elsewhere, now he's advising Romney.

Shu found a meaning for "Secunded" on Wikipedia that he thinks works: "to loan an employee from one organization to another. The individual's financial remuneration - salary and benefits - may stay with the host organization while the recipient organization agrees to pay for business expenses of the said employee. (vt. from the Lat. secundus."

I think he's right.

That's a definition of seconded. I've never heard of it being spelled that way, but some people do use that spelling, it appears.

Well, I haven't seen "seconded" used that way, but maybe other Americans have? Or maybe it's a British meaning?

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Well, I haven't seen "seconded" used that way, but maybe other Americans have? Or maybe it's a British meaning?

Seconded having the meaning Arnie describes is a verb I have used. However, I have to say I have not found it in any of the online dictionaries, but my OED has, " VT Brit. transfer (a military officer or other official or worker) temporarily to other employment or to another position"

And it is always spelt with an "o".

Yes, it's quite common in my field (education). A secondment is often part of the career path of someone (often a high-flyer), arranged with the intention of broadening their knowledge. For example, a headteacher might be seconded to Ofsted to observe, and later on carry out, school inspections. Or perhaps someone from Ofsted would work at a local authority for a while, or the government's Department for Education... It's a good way to learn "how the other half lives".

In contrast to second used as an ordinal number, unit of time, etc., in this sense, when pronounced, the accent is on the second syllable (pun not intended).

quote:

Originally posted by arnie:
In contrast to second used as an ordinal number, unit of time, etc., in this sense, when pronounced, the accent is on the second syllable (pun not intended).

And the derived words are also stressed on the second syllable as well. So "SEConded" to speak about a motion at a meeting but "secONDed" for the action of sending someone to work elsewhere.

Some years back, I was working for one company, and I was secunded (note spelling) to another company. The two were working in a joint venture in Saudi Arabia (which is where I was working) In that case, I wasn't leased. No payment went from one company to the other - I was just paid by one, but working for another. Since no payment," I wasn't leased. Yes, there was a large British component in the operation, so the U in secunded may reflect their influence.

Bilboleslie's post {and welcome,B), reminded me that I had seen that variation before. I found this definitition in MW under SECOND:
1 a : to give support or encouragement to : ASSIST b : to support (a fighting person or group) in combat : bring up reinforcements for
2 a : to support or assist in contention or debate b : to endorse (a motion or a nomination) so that debate or voting may begin
3 \si-*k*nd\ chiefly British : to release (as a military officer) from a regularly assigned position for temporary duty with another unit or
The last applies to what Bilbo said.

Yes, that's the meaning Kalleh mentioned above. Although it seems that second in this sense is described as 'chiefly British', maybe when the word is used in the USA it's spelled secund? It's certainly not spelled like that here in the UK.

I think second is just a misspelling of second, since this is where it's listed. The listing for second refers back to second.

Welcome to Wordcraft, Bilboleslie!

Interestingly, my brother, who lives in Chicago, is working in Saudi Arabia for a few years. I imagine you had a lot of stories from working there, as he sure does.