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Been Wondering? - Ask the Word Detectiive

Question: Dear Word Detective:

For many years, I have wondered about the origins of a word bandied about by all those political wonks and columnists out there: "vet." My understanding is that it means to fully investigate someone's background, e.g., whether they hired illegal nannies, inhaled their marijuana, etc. Is the word merely a corruption of "investigate"? Or is there a deeper, more sinister story to the origins of this word? Please vet it out for me. -- SPS, via the internet.

Answer: Well, golly, SPS (can I call you "S" for short?), there's always a deeper, more sinister story, isn't there? It just takes years to come out sometimes. How many of us, for instance, would ever have suspected that ... hold on a moment. They don't know that yet? Yikes. Well, never mind, folks, it's not important. On with the column.

You're absolutely right in your guess that to "vet" something or someone is to examine it in a painstaking fashion, with what an older cliche would call a "fine-tooth comb." In current usage, to "vet" someone means to examine their background for offenses that might later prove embarrassing or, in bureaucratese, might "compromise security."

"Vet" has only fairly recently become the Word Du Jour among magazine writers and political pundits in the U.S., which explains why you hear it so often these days. But while "vet" evidently seems exotic to reporters and editorialists on this side of the Atlantic, it has been in standard, albeit informal, use in Britain since the turn of the century.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about "vet" is its origin, because it seems almost too simple. "Vet," the verb, like "vet" the noun, is a contraction of "veterinarian," and to "vet" originally meant to have your animal thoroughly examined by a vet. "Veterinarian," in turn, comes from the Latin "veterinae," or cattle, which constituted the bulk of early veterinarians' patients. So if you feel like livestock next time the IRS "vets" your tax return, just do as I do. Open your big brown eyes and moo.