Jed watched as C.J. attempted to slide unnoticed into the Oval Office. "Glad you could finally join us, C.J."

"I apologize for being late, sir. I had to go back to the briefing room for my glasses. I left them on the podium."

Jed fell back, his left hand moving to grip his chest.

"The podium, you say? I find it shocking that my Press Secretary, a woman who makes her living with words, could so grossly misuse the word podium." Jed held a hand up, halting the general move to stop him from continuing. There's nothing like a little etymological discussion to liven up a dull meeting. "Podium is, of course, Latin for 'raised place', coming originally from the Greek root podos, or foot. A podium is therefore, what? Anybody?"

Jed watched with amusement while his senior staff intently examined the carpet and walls of his office. He couldn't help but wonder what it said about the intelligence of his staff that after so many years they had yet to learn to just go along with him.

"Let's get this over with as painlessly as possible," Toby said, almost too quietly for Jed to catch. He raised his voice, "A place to stand."

"Got it in one there, Toby. A place to stand. The winning athletes at the Olympics stand on a podium to receive their medals. The elevated area at the front of a lecture theatre is a podium. In ancient Rome, it was also the name for the raised platform surrounding the arena of the amphitheater where privileged spectators watched the proceedings in the Coliseum, separate from the common people in the stands. The word you're looking for, C.J., is lectern. Derived from the Latin lectus, to read. That's how you keep it straight, now. Are you standing on it or are you reading off it? A little etymology trick for you."

"Thank you, sir. I'm sure that'll come in handy the next time I'm in a tight spot with the press. I'll start quoting little etymology tricks at them until they doze off and forget what it was they were asking."

"Now, C.J. I was about to let you all off the hook. But you know what?"

"I ruined it for everyone?"

"You ruined it for everyone. Who knows where the Capitol Building gets its name? And, Josh, it's not a misspelling of capital, as in capital city, which has a completely unconnected origin." Jed watched as Josh shut his mouth and subsided into his chair. He waited a moment to see if there were any other guesses.

"Capitol is a direct import from Latin to American English. It derives from the Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of ancient Rome, where the temple to Jupiter once stood. The architecture of Washington, DC was deliberately designed to evoke images of the Roman Republic, as was the word chosen for the halls of Congress. Think about that the next time you're on the Hill. What's next?"