that’s so maven (13. 381)

Reprising a classic post with updates for 2026 when kill-bots have entered the chat with the US military integrating AI into its tactical decisions with Project Maven and the push for algorithmic warfare, Nancy Friedman takes a fascinating look at the once obscure Yiddish term—originally from the Hebrew mēbin (מֵבִין) as an expert, a knowledgeable person and echoing the rabbinical kaon, “he who understands will understand” (ha-mevin yavin)—but also with derogatory connotations of a know-it-all and a soi-disant authority. Like chutzpah and kvetching, the word was confined to certain circles before garnering acceptance in common-parlance, beginning in the 1960s, promoted to a large extent by an advertising campaign for canned herring, voiced by actor Allen Swift, as the self-proclaimed fish maven, and vocal talent behind Mighty Mouse and other cartoon characters. The following decades saw authors including William Safire take up the mantle, former speech writer for Richard Nixon and also a propellant for the term pundit, and cemented into mainstream language with Malcolm Gladwell’s 2000 The Tipping Point as a linguist lacuna that prefigured influencer as a career choice and our social betters. Much more from Fritinancy at the link up top.