OK.  Which is it?  “Supremist” or “supremacist.”

Most of the sites I’ve checked are pretty clear, the word is “supremacist.”  (Does my heart good to know that the spell check on my word processing program highlights “supremist” as incorrect.)

Let’s take a look at this.

“ist.”  Isn’t that a suffix that means something like “someone who believes in”?

So, if you’re a white supremacist, you believe in white supremacy.  OK.

And, if you’re a white supremist, you believe in, uh, white supreme?   (Sounds like some kind of creamy dessert.)

But, as one site puts it, it seems as though so many of the talking heads think that “supremacist” is too much of a mouthful.  Might as well shorten the word, huh?  What could it hurt?

Of course, some of the radio talk show hosts — those will remain nameless here – say it both ways, on the same show.  What should we make of that?

I’m waiting for Rush to start saying “LOL.”

Caveat is a noun.  From Latin.

It’s a warning, a red flag, an admonition, a caution, a forewarning (which is, I believe, darn similar to a warning).  Caveat communicates “beware.”

It is NOT a “condition” placed upon something, although it may be a warning regarding the “condition” of something:  “Watch out.  I don’t think that ladder is strong enough to support you.”  You know, it’s like “Let the buyer beware”:  That caveat emptor thing.

In other words, it’s not a requirement (see below).  It’s not something that must occur before something else occurs.

Here’s what I’m getting at.  Due to our great need to sound erudite, we like to use words that sound cool, apparently without regard to whether we are using the words correctly.  Like this:  “The EEC agreed to contribute to Cypress seven billion dollars, with the caveat that it must first institute economic austerity measures.”

Yeah, I heard a radio talk show host say that the other day.