908: guerilla Jun 4, 2017

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Guerilla tactics have been used in wars for thousands of years, but the word that we use in English is fairly modern. Historically the name for guerillas has varied from place to place, and from perspective, i.e. one side might say 'freedom-fighter' and the other say 'rebel'. 'Guerilla' itself comes directly from the Spanish word that became fairly well known during the Peninsula War against Napoleon in which the Iberians lost but citizens continued fighting with small, informal assaults. The word recognizes that scale as well, as it is the diminutive of the Spanish 'guerra' meaning 'war'. There are quite a number of related words, either within one language or between two that differ only on the G or W, like with 'wage' and 'gage'.


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