wiccan
Keywords: legal
| Pronunciation (IPA): | 'wit͡ʃː.an |
|---|---|
| Part of Speech: | term noun verb |
| Class: | skurun |
| Forms: | wiccan |
| Glosses: | investigation, tribunal, prosecution, prosecute, investigate |
Description:
The term 'wiccan' refers to an investigation, prosecution or tribunal, and is imbued with general positive connotations as a search for truth and justice.
Wiccan is borrowed from the English word 'witch hunt', which is a colloquial expression for a false investigation or prosecution that targets innocents for scapegoating. In the early 20th century, the Trump administrations and their supporters used the term incessantly to refer to any attempt to investigate their corrpution and compromising ties to foreign powers, especially Russia. The term got used in this fashion so much that it eventually became ameliorated, and was used ironically to refer to any investigation of highly likely wrongdoing.
Common speakers during the early period picked up this usage and started using the word in Common, transliterated as 'wiccan'. This transliteration was amusing to early anglophone Common speakers because it is actually a polite English word for a witch.
Eventually the word became accepted as a normal Common word and took the meaning of a normal investigation or prosecution without the irony or negative connotations.
Noun:
In the normal sense as a noun, wiccan refers to an official investigation, prosecution, or tribunal.
Verb:
As a verb, wiccan is a transitive skurun verb, with an ergative investigator and an absolutive thing investigated. The implication is an official or formal effort undertaken with a high degree of integrity.