We often read of official delegations going on ‘junkets’ abroad.
This word is used to mean a festive social affair, or, more commonly, a trip, especially a trip
taken by a public official at the
taxpayers’ expense. A ‘press junket’ could be a sponsored trip
offered to journalists to accompany a minister or visit a factory.
Junket has a long and interesting
history, having made some amazing leaps of meaning over the centuries.
The original ‘junket’, way back in
the 14th century, was nothing but a
small basket made of rushes or
reeds. The name derived from the
Latin juncus, meaning ‘reed’. This
basket was used to carry fish. But in
course of time, people found another
use for it. A certain dessert made of
sweetened, curdled milk was set in
the ‘junket’ to drain. In due course,
the baskets came to be used exclusively for making and transporting
this dessert. Gradually, the name of
the container came to apply to the
dessert itself, and still later, to revelries (such as parties or picnics) at
which the dessert was served.
Once ‘junket’ took on this meaning
of ‘a festive picnic,’ the stage was
set for it to acquire, by the late 19th
century, its modern meaning of ‘a
pleasurable outing taken at the
expense of someone else’.
