Word of the Day: February 8, 2023

despot

play
noun | DESS-putt

What It Means

A despot is a ruler who has total power and who often uses that power in cruel and unfair ways. Despot can also be used somewhat formally to refer to a person who simply has a lot of power over other people.

// Last semester, one of the history instructors taught a course about the ancient world's most infamous despots.

// He was a successful basketball coach, but many people regarded him as a petty despot.


Examples

"[The film Matilda] counts even more pointedly than the stage adaptation did on our reflexive sympathy for children subjected to the dictatorial whims of cruel adults. At the heart of it all is [actor, Emma] Thompson as heartless Agatha Trunchbull, authoritarian headmistress of Crunchem Hall, a primary school over which she presides with Olympian contempt for terrorized pupils she calls 'maggots.' Thompson is a lover of elaborate dress-up ... and here she's bulked up and uniformed like a totalitarian despot." — Peter Marks, The Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2022


Did You Know?

In his 1755 dictionary, Samuel Johnson said of despot, "this word is not in use, except as applied to some Dacian prince; as the despot of Servia." Indeed at that time, the word was mainly used to identify some very specific rulers or religious officials, and the title was an honorable one: it comes from a Greek word meaning "lord" or "master." That situation changed toward the end of the 18th century, perhaps because French Revolutionists, who were said to have been "very liberal in conferring this title," considered all sovereigns to be tyrannical. Eventually, despot came to be used primarily for any ruler who wielded absolute and often contemptuous and oppressive power.


Larger Vocabulary = More $$

Not enough people realize that it is our ability to use our language that will determine our place on the social pyramid–and that will also control, to a great extent, the amount of money we will earn during our lives. Research has shown over and over that a person’s vocabulary level is the best single predictor of occupational success (more info). Ready to reach the top? Subscribe and receive a new word daily via TXT!


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Facts & Statistics

"A person may dress in the latest fashion and present a very attractive appearance. So far, so good. But the minute he opens his mouth and begins to speak, he proclaims to the world his level on our social pyramid...Our use of our language is the one thing we can't hide."

Earl Nightingale (one of the greatest self-improvement authors of all time) conducted of a 20-year study of college graduates. "Without a single exception, those who had scored highest on the vocabulary test given in college, were in the top income group, while those who had scored the lowest were in the bottom income group."

Another study by scientist Johnson O'Connor, who gave vocabulary tests to executive and supervisory personnel in 39 large manufacturing companies:

Presidents and VPs

236 out of 272

Managers averaged

168 out of a 272

Superintendents averaged

140 out of 272

Foremen averaged

114 out of 272

Floor bosses averaged

86 out of 272

In virtually every case, vocabulary correlated with executive level and income.

In a "Reader's Digest" article titled "Words Can Work Wonders for You", author Blake Clark told a fascinating story of a salesman in his 50s who scored in the bottom 5% of a standardized vocabulary test. He worked himself into the top 45% and became a vice president of the company.

You can reach the top! We may not all be brilliant enough to be the top in our fields, but we can certainly be in the top 5%–including you.

"Let's face it, from the earliest times, the favored class of people has always been the educated class. They can make themselves recognized instantly, anywhere, by the simple expedient of speaking a few words. Our language, more than anything else, determines the extent of our knowledge.

Step out, and make something more of yourself!