hue and cry
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 20, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n hue and cry • \\HYOO-und-KRYE\\ • noun
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Hue and cry refers to a clamor of alarm or protest in response to something. It can also be used as a synonym of hubbub to refer to general noise or uproar.
\n\n// After the popular professor was fired by the college, there was such a hue and cry from students that the administration was forced to reconsider its decision.
\n\n\n \n \n\n Examples:
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\u201cBedazzled by the lucrative allures of STEM and the popularity of business degrees, universities have been defunding their humanities programs and transforming themselves into vocational training centers with five-star gyms. \u2026 The hue and cry over this benighted movement, in which institutions of higher learning are turning their backs on their fundamental mission, will likely not be enough to stop the forces operating under the cover of budgetary necessity.\u201d \u2014 Charles McNulty, The Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2023
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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Let\u2019s say it\u2019s the Middle Ages in England and a villainous highwayman has just made off with your purse of gold. What do you do? You can\u2019t call the police, because in medieval England there is no organized police force, much less telephones; indeed, 911 is even less than a joke in your town\u2014it doesn\u2019t exist! Instead, the job of fighting crime belongs to ordinary citizens. The first step is to raise a stink\u2014victims of or witnesses to a crime are expected to yell something like \u201cstop thief!\u201d so that anyone who hears the \u201chue and cry\u201d will be legally bound to join in the pursuit of the perfidious pilferer. Fast-forwarding to today, although hue and cry (hue comes from an Old French word meaning \u201cnoise\u201d or \u201coutcry\u201d; cry comes from the synonymous Anglo-French cri) was used in legal contexts upon entering English in the 15th century, it now more often refers to general alarm, complaint, or protest.
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