• kumbaya •
Pronunciation: kum-bah-yah • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. "Come by here" in the Negro spiritual "Kum Ba Yah, my Lord". 2. Human spiritual unity, often used sarcastically.
Notes: We have finally solved the mystery of where today's Good Word comes from (click here). We are still struggling as to how to use it. It is associated with singing around a campfire while holding hands as a symbol of spiritual (or pious) unity.
In Play: Although this word has been contaminated by the Washington press, we do not have to yield the meaning of this word to the cynics just yet: "We were lucky that all our good intentions led to a kumbaya spirit that helped us quickly settle the church's business." By the same token, we cannot ignore the current (mis)usage: "If the town council thinks there is some kumbaya solution of the downtown parking problem that will please everyone, they are naive, indeed."
Word History: "Kumbaya, my Lord" was first recorded in 1927. The song was sung in Gullah on the islands of South Carolina between Charleston and Beaufort. Gullah is the creole language featured in the Uncle Remus series of Joel Chandler Harris and the Walt Disney production of "Song of the South". [Kêmbaihya] is the pronunciation of come by here in that English-based creole. American missionaries took the song to Angola after its publication in the 1930s, where its origins were forgotten. In the early 1960s the song was rediscovered and made popular by Pete Seeger and Joan Baez. It was quickly associated with the Civil Rights Movement and other liberal causes, which invited sarcastic use by opponents of that movement and its causes. For more on this word, click here.
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