Ripped from the Headlines: January 2024: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 20–January 26, 2024

The CDC said this week that charcuterie sold at Costco and Sam's Club is the suspected cause of a widespread salmonella outbreak. The meat trays, made by Busseto and Fratelli Beretta, include salami, prosciutto, coppa, and soppressata. Officials recommend not eating the dried meats as their investigation continues. At least 47 people have become ill in the last month. Charcuterie is from a French word meaning "pork butcher" and its Latin root, which means "to cook flesh."

Billions of cicadas will descend on much of the eastern United States this spring as two large broods hatch simultaneously. These groups of noisy insects, the Great Southern Brood and the Northern Illinois Brood, haven't emerged at the same time since 1803. Large, winged, and hard-shelled, cicadas are an important source of food for birds — but in large numbers, their incessant calls make a sound "louder than a jet engine," as one entomologist described it.

A new Hindu temple was consecrated in India on the site of a 16th-century mosque that was destroyed 30 years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the rituals, unveiling a statue of the Hindu god Lord Ram. Many see the temple as a representation of the Indian government's move toward Hindu nationalism and away from being a secular democracy that serves citizens of all religious beliefs. The Latin root of consecrate is sacrare, "to make sacred."

A new theory suggests that dogs wag their tails today because ancient humans preferred waggly canines. Researchers noted that wolves rarely wag and wondered what changed during the process of dog domestication. They concluded that human delight in the rhythm of a dog's tail led people to choose and breed pups with that trait. According to scientists, rhythmic movement triggers joy in the human brain — it's unclear if dogs feel happy when they wag their tails, but humans definitely do.

In a scientific breakthrough, a rhinoceros embryo was successfully transferred to a surrogate mother. The tiny animal, in the earliest stages of its development, was a southern white rhino, but scientists hope the same procedure will help save the nearly-extinct northern white rhinoceros. There are only two remaining female northern white rhinos in the world. The Greek root of embryo means "that which grows."

On January 21, Ron DeSantis ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump. After losing by 30 percentage points in the Iowa primary, DeSantis acknowledged there was "no clear path to victory." The Florida governor threw his support behind Trump, saying he was "superior to Joe Biden," though he also criticized the former president's handling of the pandemic. Although Trump defeated Nikki Haley in the January 23 New Hampshire primary, she plans to continue her campaign.

Hackers successfully broke into senior Microsoft leaders' email accounts this week. The group that accessed Microsoft's corporate computer system was a skilled hacking team, backed by the Russian government, that focuses on gathering intelligence. The hackers may have taken advantage of outdated computer code to gain access to the email system. Hacker probably comes from the noun hack, used by MIT students in the 1960s to mean "creative prank."

A landslide in southwestern China on January 22 killed at least 31 people and forced hundreds to evacuate. Dozens of houses were buried when a cliff collapsed near the mountainous village of Liangshui, sending mud, snow, and rubble pouring down the steep slope. Some villagers reported noticing cracks in the cliff face prior to the landslide. Before landslide was coined in 19th-century American English, the word landslip had the same meaning.

The end of a licensing deal between the owner and publisher of Sports Illustrated will likely result in layoffs at the magazine. The union representing 80 percent of Sports Illustrated's employees said the entire staff is at risk of losing their jobs. The news follows recent layoffs at publications including the Los Angeles Times and Pitchfork. The noun layoff evolved from an earlier meaning of the word, "to stop working and be idle."

Oppenheimer received 13 Academy Award nominations on January 23, among them best picture, best director, and best lead actor. Other nominees for best picture included Maestro, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Anatomy of a Fall. Many fans of Barbie, another best picture contender, were outraged that its director, Greta Gerwig, and its star, Margot Robbie, didn't receive nominations. The root of nomination means "give a name to."

When the Kansas City Chiefs play the Baltimore Ravens on January 28, it will be a faceoff between what many fans consider to be the top two quarterbacks in the NFL. The AFC Championship game will pit the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes against the Ravens' Lamar Jackson. Both 27-year-old offensive leaders have won Associated Press MVP awards for their performance on the field. Quarterbacks got their name from where they are at the start of a game, between the center and the halfback.

A white tulle tutu worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in the opening credits of the HBO series Sex and the City sold for more than $50,000 at auction. The skirt, made from satin and fine layers of stiff, white netting, was purchased on sale for five dollars by the show's costume director, who paired it with a pink tank top. Tulle is named for the town in central France where the fabric was originally made.