Dispatch # 7: Kennedy, Malia, Haggis

Kennedy [ken-i-dee] (Irish)


1) An iconic American family dynasty of the past century consisting of a phillandering cast of ill-fated tycoons, senators, a president and their square-jawed women.

2) Derived from the Old Irish cinneide, meaning 'ugly head.'

3) Novelist who attempted to glorify his hometown of Albany NY, in vain.

4) A creaky international airport along the windy shores of Jamaica Bay; once named Idlewild.


Malia [ma-LEE-ah] (Hawaiian) (Franco-Hebrew)

1) Hawaiian for 'perhaps'.

2) Eldest daughter of Hawaii-born Barack Obama, the 44th President of the USA; since her father's election, advisors have strongly suggested changing her name from 'Perhaps' to 'Definitely'. Others within the administration have proposed 'Probably' as a compromise.

3) The southern half of Somalia, a country whose apt name amalgamates the words 'so' and 'maybe', as in "So maybe it's a country, and maybe it's not".

4) French for 'badness'. Somalia could also be understood as 'The Land of So-Bad'.

5) Franco-Hebrew for 'God's badness'.


Haggis [hag-is] (Middle English)

1) A round Scottish sausage filled with the chopped and minced heart, lungs and liver of sheep mixed with beef or mutton suet, and seasoned with spices and pepper. The concoction is stuffed into a sheep's stomach and boiled; usually served with turnips and mashed potatoes and imbibed with Scotch whisky.

2) Could originate in Old French 'agace', meaning 'magpie', implying the odds and ends the bird collects. (Online Etymology Dictionary).

3) A Canadian leftwing Oscar-winning movie director.

4) An Anglo-Saxon etymololgical amalgam of 'hag' and 'is' which would mean "an ugly, vicious, old witch".