The midterm election coverage included plenty of talk about waves and even tsunamis. But while the political kind may have dominated the headlines, "tsunami" refers to something far more destructive than a political shift.
Before tsunami showed up in English, speakers used "tidal wave." The phrase dates back to at least 1715, when it referred to waves connected to the tides. By the mid-1800s, it was also being used to describe massive ocean waves caused by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions — what we now call tsunamis.
Tsunami came into English in the late 1800s. Early newspaper accounts often included an explanation for readers unfamiliar with the term, describing a tsunami as a “sea wave” or “earthquake wave.” Its use became much more common in the early 2000s, particularly following the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
By the 1970s, "tsunami" had also started appearing in figurative expressions. Today, news coverage uses it to describe everything from political shifts to surges of anger, racism, data, and support.
The New York Times this week published an article about the response in Japan to the use of "tsunami" to describe this week's “blue wave.” As you might expect, not everyone is comfortable using a term associated with catastrophic destruction to describe political movements, including a so-called “blue tsunami.”
There's also the question of pronunciation. The Japanese pronunciation includes a “t” at the beginning, but English speakers often drop it. Both pronunciations appear in many dictionaries, reflecting the way borrowed words often adapt to the language that adopts them.
To hear more about "tsunami," including its pronunciation, listen to the audio above.
