Apparatchik (New Word No. 1)

Word choice in writing is so important. The well-placed word can add meaning, force, irony, even assonance that it's well-meaning synonym could only dream of conjuring.

I am fortunate to read good writing on a regular basis. Since I love good writing and since word choice is a strong component to good writing, I love reading new words. I love learning new words.

By far my favorite Google search feature is it's "define:" search. It has helped me countless times. And it not only helps with basic lexical units, but also technical jargon, slang and foreign phrases more akin to encyclopedia entries, like Hegelian dialectic or oeuvre (two recent searches). Now, I know a two-minute read is no sufficient primer on philosophical schools of thought, but I make no claim of expertise. I am an amateur.

In order to beef up my post count and to share my new words with persons other than my patient wife, I'm going to start posting new words here when I learn them, including the context and definition. The context is key, because I can't learn new words in a Word-A-Day format. A setting must capture the word in my mind.

My first word is apparatchik. Karl Rove used it in a WSJ editorial about the Democratic primary:

Neither Mr. Obama nor Mrs. Clinton can win with delegates elected in primaries and caucuses. In a real irony, the Democratic Party will settle its nominee battle with the aristocratic device of superdelegates -- party apparatchiks, interest group leaders and elected officials, many of whom gained their post years ago.

Apparatchik (says Wikipedia) originated as the colloquial term given to unelected professional functionaries of the Communist Party in the Soviet republic - those who had their position because of ideology, regardless the skill set required for the job. They were, literally, "agents of the apparatus."

It can be used now (a la Karl Rove) "to describe people who cause bureaucratic bottlenecks in otherwise efficient organizations. It is also frequently used to describe individuals appointed to positions in any government on the basis of ideological or political loyalty rather than competence." (NOTE: Technically, the plural is apparatchiki, not Rove's apparatchiks. However, I think Rove's usage is better.)