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Transcript of “The Origin of the Word “Undermine””
Today, I learned about the word undermine.
It never occurred to me that undermine is literally mining under.
The original sense of it was to dig or excavate beneath to make a passage like a mine under a wall.
It was usually applied to a military operation, to undermine.
Yeah, absolutely.
Right.
You undermine something, meaning you weaken its defenses or you weaken its support structure so it might collapse.
Yes.
I just never thought about it being connected to mining.
