The Word: Cowering

Main Entry: cow·er
Pronunciation: \ˈkau̇(-ə)r\
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English couren, probably from Middle Low German kūren
Date: 14th century
: to shrink away or crouch especially for shelter from something that menaces, domineers, or dismays

From the New York Times:

Here is something you might not know about Senator Barack Obama: His musical tastes are pretty mainstream. His reading list is, well, a little dark.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine to be published on Wednesday, Mr. Obama revealed that his iPod was full of dozens of selections from, top to bottom, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Jay-Z and Yo-Yo Ma. (Joining perhaps every other Democratic politician alive, he also confessed a deep love for Bruce Springsteen.)

When asked what books have most inspired him, Mr. Obama named “the tragedies of William Shakespeare” and Hemingway’s novel of the Spanish Civil War For Whom the Bell Tolls — incidentally, a favorite of Senator John McCain, who is known to quote from it at random.



For the second time, Mr. Obama will grace the cover of Rolling Stone this week, and Jann S. Wenner, the magazine’s editor and publisher, conducted the interview on the Obama campaign plane on June 12.

It was not all about pop culture. When Mr. Wenner asked how Mr. Obama might respond to harsh attacks from Republicans, suggesting that Democrats have “cowered” in the past, Mr. Obama replied, “Yeah, I don’t do cowering.”