Motto of the U.S.A. "E PLURIBUS UNUM" or "IN GOD WE TRUST"? (a little history lesson)

So today's post is about the motto of the United States of America.  Many of you readers have heard "E pluribus unum" and "In God We Trust", which are both found on American currency today.  The current motto is actually "In God We Trust".  It used to be "E pluribus unum".

So let's take a look at each:

"E pluribus unum"

Surely you have heard of this expression and maybe you know what it means.  Just in case you don't, it is Latin for "One out of many" or "One among many".  This expression used to be the motto of the United States of American, adopted by an act of Congress in 1782.  (It is also the motto for the biggest soccer (or football) club in Portugal, the great BENFICA.)  The expression was chosen at the time to represent the union of the various states of the United States, and today it has evolved to represent the idea of the melting pot in the U.S.A., or the union of various races, religions, languages, and ancestries.

"In God We Trust"

In 1956 Congress passed act adopting "In God We Trust" as the official motto of the United States, leaving behind "In pluribus unum" (though it still can be found on our currency...).  The president at that time was Dwight Eisenhower.  "In God We Trust" first appeared on paper currency in 1957.   The phrase was taken from the "Star-Spangled Banner" (the national anthem), which was written by a 35-year-old lawyer/amateur poet named Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.  There is controversy surrounding this motto, as there exists a separation of the Church and the State in the U.S.A.  (This is a conversation that regularly comes up among Americans...even as teenagers, we would discuss this.)  However, it continues to be the official motto of the U.S.A., supported and upheld legally as an act of Congress.  

That's it for today.  I hope you liked the history lesson!

2012 Election Lingo Top 10 List

Today Americans will elect a new president, and for those of you who are closely following the news, here is a list of new vocabulary words you may not already know to help you understand American election parlance and politics.

n.=noun
adj.=adjective
v.=verb
adv.=adverb

1. swing state(n.): states in which there are many undecided voters, making it difficult for experts to predict whether a state will vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate.  For the 2012 election (according to the Washington Post), Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Virginia, New Hampshire and Iowa are swing states.
2. absentee ballot(n.): a mail-in ballot used by Americans living or working abroad including U.S. military personnel.
3. incumbent (n.):  the candidate running who is currently holding office.  In this election, Obama is the incumbent.
4. dark horse(n.): a term used in gambling to describe a competitor or candidate that suprisingly upsets the expected outcome.  We also use the term´underdog', which expresses the idea of a disadvantaged player. 
5. GOP(n.):  this acronym stands for Grand Old Party, or the Republican Party.  Curiously enough, it was founded by anti-slavery activists in the mid-1800.   
6. partisan(adj.):  this term simply means committed, belonging to or favoring one party or another. 
7. landslide(n.):  overwhelming victory, winning by a landslide means winning by a wide margin.
8. platform(n.):  this is used to describe the policies, objectives and beliefs that define the campaign of a candidate.  For example, Obama's platform includes universal healthcare, Romney's, lower taxes. 
9. straight vs. split ticket(n., adv.):  A straight ticket is voting strictly based on party affiliation--voting for either all Democrat, Republican or Independent runners--while a split ticket is a ballot with candidates from more than one party.  For example, voting for Romney and a Democratic senator would be a split ticket.
10. exit poll:  An exit poll is conducted right after voters have submitted their ballots.