"Nepotism" originally referred to the need to find cushy jobs in the church for papal bastards, euphemistically called his "nephews": nepoti. Today's advocates of nepotism have acknowledged fathers, but they're still a bunch of bastards in my book. More here.
Update No, linking to my sister's essay, which I've been looking forward to reading ever since she told me she was writing it, wasn't intended as some sort of ironic comment about nepotism. Nepotism is favoring family over others in situations where everyone is entitled to an even break, such as awarding a job, or using one's influence to cause other people to favor one's family members in such situations. It has no more in common with ordinary family feeling than the antics of Robin Hood had to do with ordinary almsgiving.
Posted by kleiman at October 15, 2003 11:20 PM | TrackBack