Words: solvent, n.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.NEVER HAS there been so pithy a evocation of contemporary Wales as the Voice Personal ad at the weekend in which a woman specified "only solvents please". Has she had embarrassing meals with Welshmen who prove short of lettuce? From the Latin for loosen, solve is both physical and metaphorical - the latter neatly defined by Johnson: "to clear; to explain; to untie an intellectual knot".
Solvent, as an adjective, is the ability to dissolve any debts. Although insolvent is a noun for the feckless, a solvent is something that newsagents do not sell to teenagers. The "tall, slim, attractive, professional, independent 33-year-old" Welshwoman revives a usage unique to Cobbett (1825): "Every insolvent blames a solvent, that will not lend him money."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments