What does it mean to vet a political candidate? The word “vet” comes from veterinarian, specifically the ones who would examine a horse before a race to make sure it was healthy and eligible. Similarly, one might vet a candidate to make sure they’re up to snuff. The novelist John le Carre popularized the term in his political stories. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Vet Someone”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Steve Smith. I’m calling from Winchester, Massachusetts.
Great to have you, Steve. What’s up?
Hi, Steve.
I wanted to call and ask about a particular word. See if you know what the derivation of the word vet is, V-E-T. I’ve often wondered about this word, and I’ve heard it a lot over the years, certainly during election cycle and stuff like that. I’ve asked people where they think it comes from, different word people, and the explanation I’ve gotten has never really been satisfactory to me. Usually, it’s something along the lines of having a veteran dig into somebody’s background. But it doesn’t seem like it’s quite enough. It seems like there’s more to it than that or there should be. And I wondered what you guys thought.
Good instincts there. Veteran is not the root of that.
Veterinarian?
Yeah.
Isn’t the story about a veterinarian, somebody who has to, like, look at the horses before a race?
Yeah.
In order to check them out, make sure they haven’t been doped or make sure something else untoward isn’t happening. Make sure they’re even just plain healthy because you don’t want to run. It’s not humane to run a sick horse.
Yeah, yeah. And you want to check them.
They come from veterinarians?
Yes.
Yes, definitely. That’s great.
Yeah. I had no idea. Because they go over horses so thoroughly. You know, you want to check every part. That’s the same idea with vetting a candidate, for example.
And it’s funny because we talk.
Before they enter the horse race.
Yeah, before they enter the horse race.
Exactly. That is great. So when did that first come about? When did they start using it like that?
It’s not that long ago. I want to say, I’m sorry, I don’t have the exact date in front of you, but I think it’s 40 or 50 years. It starts showing up in John le Carre novels. He starts using it in his political thrillers. And he kind of institutionalizes. I think a lot of people borrowed it from him. He was the popularizer of the term and kind of made the leap in that way.
Wow, that’s really great.
Yeah, it’s cool because if you’re not inside horse racing, you probably don’t know how strict and rigorous the rules can be about everything, including birth dates and names and sizes and all the lineages being tracked and exact precision on everything, including the health of the animals. And you’ve got to make sure those horses don’t have any illegal immigrants hiring as gardeners or anything like that.
Or a nanny problem.
Or a nanny problem.
A nanny problem?
A whinny problem.
And there have been recent stories about diseases infecting horses at horse shows around the country, which understores exactly what we’re talking about. This is why the importance of the veterinarian at a racetrack cannot be understated. And it’s why this would come to mind if you were in a position to make sure that a person checked out. You might immediately be called to remember veterinarians on the racetrack.
That’s great.
Glad to help, sir.
Thank you very much.
Thanks, Paul.
Love the show.
Bye-bye.
Okay.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
