This week’s theme
Geometrical terms used figuratively

This week’s words
squarehead
circle the wagons
square-toed
circumlocution
square the circle


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PRONUNCIATION:

(SUHR-kuhl thuh WAG-uhnz)

MEANING:

idiom: To gather a group together to assume a defensive stance.

ETYMOLOGY:

From circle, from Latin circulus (circle) + wagon, from Dutch wagen. Earliest documented use: mid-1800s.

NOTES:

The phrase arose from the practice of many wagon trains on the American frontier of drawing their wagons into a circle at camp. This helped contain livestock and organize camp life, and it could also offer protection in times of danger.

The figurative idiom (“closing ranks against a threat”) didn’t actually gain widespread popularity until the mid-20th century. We largely have the Golden Age of Hollywood Westerns, where cinematic attacks on circled wagons were a highly dramatized, beloved trope, to thank for cementing the phrase in our modern political and corporate vocabulary. When it comes to defense strategies, this one is certainly the most well-rounded.

USAGE:

“Besides, unionist voters tend to circle the wagons during a crisis.”
A Brief Moment in the Sun; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 26, 2019.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: