February 2nd. A day that is anticipated across the nation by everyone who has shovelled enough snow for the year and believes they are ready to start pushing a lawn mower instead. Better known as Groundhog Day, the 33rd day of the year is a day when a rodent is bestowed with the powers of prediction and looked to for meteorological guidance. Tradition has it that if the groundhog sees its shadow, six more weeks of winter are in store. Which is why everyone, whether they have
Few words feel as self-evident as success . We use it as though everyone agrees on what it means, what it looks like, and who deserves it. But linguistically speaking, success is far less triumphant—and far more interesting—than modern culture would have us believe. The word comes from the Latin successus , meaning an outcome, a result, a happening , from succedere : to come after, to follow . At its core, success did not mean victory. It meant sequence. It named what came
