On May 1, 1930, the dwarf planet Pluto officially got its name. While researchers had suspected the existence of Pluto for years based on observations of activity around Neptune and Uranus, the formal discovery of Pluto occurred on February 18, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.
Pluto’s name comes from the Roman god of the underworld. But after Pluto was discovered, scientists learned more and more about its size (it ended up being much smaller than originally thought) and its location in the Kuiper Belt, which is a ring of numerous bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. In the 1990’s, after I had learned in school that the solar system had nine planets, some astronomers declined to include Pluto in their solar system models, believing Pluto did not properly qualify as a planet. And in 2006, the International Astronomical Union formally redefined the term planet to exclude dwarf planets like Pluto. Between you and me, I was heartbroken for the little guy.
That same year, a new term was coined: the word plutoed now means “to demote or devalue someone or something.” Like if a basketball player loses his starting position on the team and becomes a bench-warmer, you might say he has been plutoed.
I mostly share this story because it is just interesting. But it also prompted me to wonder: Where do our words come from? And who decides what they mean?
Think about it…and have a wonderful day.
