xeno, xenophobe, xenophile, xenon, xeric, xerophyte, xerox

readingthedictionaryztoa.blogspot.com (dictionary, words, etymology, literature) 
Glenn Feole: glennlouisfeole@gmail.com

xeno- [Greek xenos, strange]

     xenophobe: afraid of strangers and foreigners

     xenophile:  one attracted to foreign things (culture, styles)

     xenon: an element

      The Scottish chemist, William Ramsey, a Nobel Prize winner, discovered xenon in 1898 and named it after this Greek root word for "strange" since it was present in only 1 out of ten million parts found in air.  He also discovered and named "argon" from the Greek word for "lazy.”

     When reading The New Yorker  and also The New York Times there seems to be a direct, statistically significant correlation with the number of articles about Trump and the number of times the word "xenophobic" is used.  In the September issue of the former, an essay mentioned, "The speech was xenophobic in spirit but vague on specifics."

xeric [Gr xeros dry] requiring only a limited amount of water

     xerophyte

     xerophyte

     xerox: copying process using dry powder. 
                xerography, Xerox

          The Xerox Corporation invented the name since it meant "dry writing."  Xerox has also spent much time and money through advertisements trying to convince the public that "xerox" is not a verb, i.e. I am going to xerox this document.  It hasn't worked.  In India, the word xerox is routinely uses as a synonym for copying something.  Even the OED recognizes the word as a verb.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has an interesting compromise though: it lists it as a verb but gives the example, "to copy on a Xerox machine." 

          Even the NYT's has weighed in (July 18, 2009):

     "Consider the case of Xerox, which has long urged consumers to “photocopy” rather than “xerox” documents. The fear was that if “to xerox something” became another way of saying, “to photocopy something,” the term would end up defining not what Xerox is (a company that makes a distinctive brand of copiers), but what Xerox’s products do (make photocopies). In the process, the difference between Xerox and its competitors would begin to melt away.  ...

     "...In the past, Xerox ran a very expensive campaign in places like Editor and Publisher that said don’t use xerox as a verb,” she said. …What people know from marketing experience now and what people now understand as a practical matter is that it is very good when people use your name as verb.”  

     ”The leader among Internet brands turned verbs, of course, is Google. Still, even with so much to lose, Google seems conflicted on the question. It has a policy page that instructs companies it does business with on how to use its trademark terms: “Use the trademark only as an adjective, never as a noun or verb, and never in the plural or possessive form. Use a generic term following the trademark, for example: Google search engine, Google search, Google Web search.”